World Latin American Agenda 2011

In its category, the Latin American book most widely distributed inside and outside the Americas each year. A sign of continental and global commuion among individual and communities excited by and commited to the Great Causes of the Patria Grande. An Agenda that expresses the hope of the world’s poor from a Latin American perspective. A manual for creating a different kind of globalization. A collection of the historical memories of militancy. An anthology of solidarity and creativity. A pedagogical tool for popular education, communication and social action. From the Great Homeland Our cover image, by Maximino CEREZO BARREDO

WHY DON’T YOU CHANGE GOD? In order to change our lives we have to change God. We have to change God in order to change the Church. To change the World We have to change God.

Pedro CASALDÁLIGA Other resources: Primer, courses, digital Archive, etc. Cfr. page 237.

This year we remind you...

We are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Agenda by putting online all the English editions of the Agenda in digital form. This is for those who are our passionate readers, our friends who are nostal- gic about those early Agendas and for anyone who want to keep a digital copy of the Agendas. For its part, the Archives of the Latin American Agenda are still online. They offer all the materials that the Agenda has produced and in three languages. Community animators, teachers, professors and pastoral workers will all find there a treasure of resources for their popular education activities, for formation, reflection and debate. You can do a search by theme, title, author or year of publication at servicioskoinonia.org/agenda/archivo. Now, whe we complete 20 years of the Agenda, we are puting all the available Agendas on line, digitally.

We put the accent on vision, on attitude, on awareness, on education... Obviously, we aim at a practice. However our “charism” is to provoke the transformations of awareness necessary so that radically new practices might arise from another systemic vision and not just reforms or patches. We want to ally ourselves with all those who search for that transformation of conscience. We are at its service. This Agenda want to be, as always and even more than at other times, a box of materials and tools for popular education. Take a look also at «servicioskoinonia.org/teologiapopular», where we habitually publish our “courses of popular education.” latinoamericana.org/2011/info is the web site we have set up in the network in order to offer and circulate more material, ideas and pedagogical resources that can economically be accomodated in this paper version. As in the past, we will continue the complentarity between paper and electronic versions.

2 PERSONAL DATA Name:...... Address:...... City:...... Country:...... ☎ home:...... ☎ work:...... ☎ cell:...... Pager:...... E-mail:...... Blood type:...... In case of emergency, please contact:......

http://latinoamericana.org http://agenda.latinoamericana.org

The “portal” of the Agenda is its complement on the internet. Go there to know more about Agenda, apart from the paper publication that takes place once a year. You can find information there about writing contests, the publication of the results, and all developments concerning them. Using the entrance of the “telematic archive of the Agenda” (servicioskoinonia.org/agenda/archivo), you can also read or copy the texts of the Agenda, both of the current year (after February) and of prior years. Additionally, if you want to be advised of new additions (new material, activist campaigns, important new bibliographic information) that we are able to make available in the page of the Agenda, subscribe (without cost) to “Novedades Koinonía” that, in brief weekly or biweekly emails, will communicate this new information to you (without sending attachments, but providing you with the direct link). Subscribe at http://servicioskoinonia.org/informacion/index.php#novedades; you can also unsubscribe at any moment at this address. If you have any problems, you can contact the email address which appears in the portal. 3 © José María VIGIL & Pedro CASALDÁLIGA This list of publishers Apdo 0823-03151 / Panama City / Republic of Panama is available and always updated at: [email protected] ☎ + 507 - 264.18.11 http://latinoamericana.org/2011/editores Design: José Mª Vigil, Diego Haristoy and Mary Zamora Cover & graphics: Maximino Cerezo Barredo Web: http://latinoamericana.org This edition would not have been possible without the enormous voluntary contribution of Katharine Aiton who coordinated the translations. We wish also to thank all those who contributed, in one way or another, to making this version of the Agenda possible.

2011 Digital English Edition ISBN 978-0-9680828-3-6 The paper edition is also available on-line in digital form at latinoamericana.org/English You can either download it to your computer screen or take the file to your local digital printer to have paper copies made up. For a higher resolution (professional) format, please contact us directly at [email protected]

In other languages, the Latin American Agenda 2011, in paper, is available at: CANADÁ-EUA (in English) CIGALPA http://latinoamericana.org/English Familia Dominicana / Apdo. 2558 / ☎ (504) 550 62 65 Dunamis Publishers / c/o 6295, rue Alma / Montréal QC, / SAN PEDRO SULA H2S 2W2, Canadá / [email protected] Librería Caminante / ☎ (504) 557 5910 / libreriacamina MÉXICO: [email protected] / SAN PEDRO SULA Librería de las CEBs, Comunidades Eclesiales de Base / CUBA: Tenayuca 350, Col. Santa Cruz Atoyac / 03310 MÉXI- Centro Ecuménico Martín Luther King / LA HABANA / CO DF / ☎ (52)-55 56 88 63 36 / Fax: (52-55)-56 01 ☎ 537 260 39 40 / [email protected] 43 23 / [email protected] DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MCCLP-APD /Guanajuato 51-C, Dpto. 301, Col. Roma Amigo del Hogar / Apdo 1104 / SANTO DOMINGO / / 06700 MÉXICO DF / ☎-fax: (52)-55 564 98 85 / ☎ (1-809) 542 75 94 / Fax: (1-809) 565 42 52 / [email protected] [email protected] GUATEMALA: PUERTO RICO: Centro Claret / Apdo 29-H, Zona 11 / 01911-GUATE- REDES, Redes de Esperanza y Solidaridad / Apdo 8698 / MALA / ☎ 502-2 478.65.08 y 78.49.66 / Fax: (502)- CAGUAS / Tel-Fax: (1-787) 747 57 67 / PUERTO RICO 278.41.95 / [email protected] 00726-8698 / [email protected] EL SALVADOR: NICARAGUA: CEIPES/FUNDAHMER, ☎ 2243-2126 y 2257-7987, Avda. Fundación Verapaz / Costado Norte de los Juzgados / Amazonas, Colonia Jardines de Guadalupe #4, An- Apartado P-177 / MANAGUA / ☎ (505) 2265 06 95 / tiguo Cuscatlán, La Libertad, [email protected] / [email protected] [email protected] COSTA RICA: También las librerías de la UCA de SAN SALVADOR. Centro Bíblico «Para que tengan vida» / SAN JOSÉ HONDURAS: / ☎ (506) 222 5057/ [email protected] / Guaymuras / Apdo 1843 / Fax: (504) 38 45 78 / TEGU- [email protected] / 4 PANAMÁ: 1177 / [email protected] / www. [email protected] Movfra-JPIC-Bol.org VENEZUELA: ARGENTINA: Misioneros Claretianos / CARACAS / ☎ (58) 212 Centro Nueva Tierra / Piedras nº 575 PB / 1070 BUENOS - 2380164 / [email protected] / AIRES/☎-Fax: (54)13420869/ [email protected] [email protected] PARAGUAY: Acción Ecuménica ☎ 860 15 48 / Fax: 861 11 96 / Pastoral Juvenil Salesiana / Don Bosco 816 con Humai- [email protected] tá / Casilla 587 / 1209-ASUNCIÓN / ☎ (595) 21 448 Distribuidora de Estudios C.A. ☎ 562 58 18 / Fax: 561 422 , 443 957 Fax: 449 160 / [email protected]. 82 05 / [email protected] net.py / [email protected] FUNDALATIN / ☎ 953.5976 / Fax: 284.65.56 / URUGUAY: [email protected] OBSUR, Observatorio del Sur / José E. Rodó 1727 / Institución Teresiana / ☎ 562 42 48 / Fax: 551 8571 / Casilla 6394 / 11200-MONTEVIDEO / ☎ (598) 2 409 [email protected] 0806 / Fax: 402 0067 / [email protected] Ediciones El Pueblo / ☎-Fax: 451 65 96 / CHILE: [email protected] ECCLA, Ediciones y Comunicaciones Claretianas / Zente- Movimiento Juvenil ANCLA / ☎-Fax: 322.75.68 / no 764 / Casilla 2989 / SANTIAGO-21 / ☎ (56) 2 695 [email protected] 34 15 / Fax: 695 34 07 / [email protected] Fe y Alegría, Zona Central, Valencia / ☎ 0241-868.40.01 BRAZIL (in Portuguese): / [email protected] Ligue ao 0800 7730 456 (gratuito) / http://latinoame- Vicariato Apostólico de Tucupita / ☎ 0287-7212 244 ricana.org/Brasil / [email protected] Fax: 0287 - 7211 812 / [email protected] SPAIN: Misioneras Claretianas ☎ 238 03 02/[email protected] 23 comités de solidaridad, coordinados por: Comité Os- HH. Maristas / Tel.: 321 03 33 / [email protected] car Romero / Paricio Frontiñán s/n / 50004-ZARAGO- COLOMBIA: ZA / ☎ (34) 976 43 23 91 / Fax: (34) 976 39 26 77 / Fundación Editores Verbo Divino / BOGOTÁ, D.C. / [email protected] / comitesromero.org [email protected] CATALONIA (in Catalá): Librería: Avenida 28 Nº 37-45 (Bº La Soledad) / PBX: Comissió Agenda Llatinoamericana / Santa Eugènia 17 / 268 66 64 Fax: 368 81 09 / [email protected] / 17005-GIRONA / ☎ (34) 972 21 99 16 / llatinoameric [email protected] / BOGOTÁ, D.C. [email protected] / www.llatinoamericana.org Librería: Cra. 66 Nº 34-92, local 202 (Bº Conquis- Comité Oscar Romero / Paseo Fabra i Puig 260, 2-2a / tadores) / ☎ 265 62 48 / Telefax: 316 01 88 / 08016 BARCELONA / ☎ (34) 933 498 803 / fax: (34) [email protected] / MEDELLÍN. 933 405 834 / [email protected] ECUADOR: FRANCE (en français): latinomericana.org/EnFrancais Centro de Formación y Espiritualidad Mons. Leónidas Comité Amérique Latine du Jura / Centre Social / 39000 Proaño / Av. Rumichaca S26-275 y Moromoro / Frente LONS LE SAUNIER / FRANCE / [email protected] / al Estadio del Aucas / Ciudadela Turubamba / QUITO www.lecalj.com / Telefax: (593-2) 2840059 / [email protected]. ITALY (in italian): http://latinomericana.org/Italia ec / ecuapymes.com/centrodeformacion Gruppo America Latina della Comunità di Sant’Angelo PERÚ: / Sant’Angelo Solidale Onlus / Via Marco d’Agrate,11 Red Educativa Solidaria / Calle Loa 160 / Ancón - LIMA – 20139 Milano - Italia / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] SWISS (several languages): BOLIVIA: Librairie Latino-américaine Nueva Utopía / Rue de la Movimiento Franciscano de Justicia y Paz de Bolivia Grand-Fontaine 38 / CH-1700 FRIBOURG / ☎-Fax: / Casilla 827 / COCHABAMBA / ☎-Fax: (591) 4 425 (41-26) 322 64 61 / [email protected]

The contents of this Agenda are the property of the Latin American people, who give per- mission to freely copy, cite, reproduce, and distribute them for non-commercial purposes. 5 Contents

Entrance Presentation of the Agenda, José María VIGIL, Panamá...... 8 Introduction, Pedro CASALDÁLIGA, São Félix do Araguaia, Mato Grosso, Brazil...... 10 Martirology Anniversaries of 2011...... 12 Prizes and Contests...... 14

I. VER Panorama of Religions in the World, Franz DAMEN, Belgium-Bolivia ...... 22 Latin America, the Most Unequal Continent, ONU-Hábitat, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...... 24 Data on Religions...... 25 Religious Unbelief in the World, Cardenal Paul POUPARD, Pontifical Council for Culture, Vatican...... 26 Religion in Europe and in Latin America, Pablo SUESS, São Paulo SP, Brazil...... 28 Looking Towards 2050: Worries about the Planet and the Poor, Verónica CALDERÓN, Spain...... 30 Anthological Texts on Religion...... 32

II. JUDGING / DREAMING Religion? What Are We Talking About? Agenda Latinoamericana...... 34 Anthropological Origin of Religion, Eduardo HOORNAERT, Lauro de Freitas BA, Brazil...... 35 God and religion, José COMBLIN, João Pessoa PB, Brazil...... 36 Many Options in the Search for Meaning, Faustino TEIXEIRA, Juiz de Fora MG, Brazil...... 40 The God I Don’t Believe In, Juan ARIAS, Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brazil...... 42 «Although There Isn’t a God Up Above», Roger LENAERS, Holand-Austria...... 44 2011: UN International Year of Forests, Chemistry, and Decade for People of African Descent...... 46 God: Gap or Gap-Filler?, Pere TORRAS, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Catalunya, Spain...... 66 What Religions Express and Does Not Die With Them, Marta GRANES, Barcelona, Spain...... 78 Religion: An Ambivalent Meaning, Pedro RIBEIRO DE OLIVEIRA, Juiz de FORA, MG, Brazil...... 90 The Two Books of God, Carlos MESTERS, São Paulo SP, Brazil...... 102 Eulogy to Cristina Downing, Ernesto CARDENAL, Managua, Nicaragua...... 116 The «God Spot» in the Brain, Leonardo BOFF, Petrópolis RJ, Brazil...... 128

6 Hot points Theism, a Useful but Not Absolute Modelo to «Imagine» God, José María Vigil, Panamá, Panamá...... 142 Religion, Gender and Violence, Elsa TÁMEZ, San José, Costa Rica...... 154 But Is There or Isn’t There Another World Up There?, José María VIGIL, Panamá, Panamá...... 166 Religions and Revolution, Félix SAUTIÉ, La Habana, Cuba...... 180 The Reinvention of the United Nations, Miguel D’ESCOTO - Leonardo BOFF, Nicaragua-Brazil...... 192

III. TAKING ACTION Social Change Begins with the Transformation of the Idea of God, A. PÉREZ-BALTODANO, Nicaragua...... 210 Another Christianity Is Possible, Diego de Medellín Ecumenical Center, Santiago, Chile...... 212 Mystique in Socials Movements, Ademar BOGO, Teixeira de Freitas BA, Brazil...... 214 A New Christianity for a New World, about a book by John Shelby SPONG...... 216 Another Church is Necessary and Possible, Jon SOBRINO, San Salvador, El Salvador ...... 218 Popular Religion, Priests for the Option for the Poor, Argentina...... 220 The Verdict on Religion, José Antonio MARINA, Madrid, Spain...... 222 Believing in Another Way, Andrés TORRES QUEIRUGA, Santiago de Compostela, Spain...... 224 A Call for a New Reform, John Shelby SPONG, bishop emeritus of Newark, NJ, USA...... 227 We Lack New Religious Images, José María VIGIL, Panamá, Panamá...... 228 Ten Tips for Living Religion in the 21st Century, Frei BETTO, São Paulo SP, Brazil ...... 230 Recursos pedagógicos sobre religión, Martín VALMASEDA, Guatemala...... 232 Información y materiales complementarios...... 234

Contest Winners Latin American Short Story: Los titanes del tiempo, Moisés PESCADO, Sumpago, Guatemala...... 236 Latin American Short Story: El recuerdo o la esperanza, Susana BENAVIDES, San Vicente, Costa Rica...... 237 Neobiblical Pages: Jesús los envía en misión, Gerardo GUILLÉN DE LA ROSA, México DF, México...... 238 Neobiblical Pages: El árbol, símbolo de vida y comunión, Orlando VALDÉS, Pinar del Río, Cuba...... 239 Gender: La lógica de la irracionalidad, Vilma Amanda AGUINAGA, Managua, Nicaragua...... 240

Final Servicios Koinonía...... 231 «Tiempo axial» Collection...... 193 Point of encounter: Comments from Readers...... 242 Who is Who...... 244 Notes...... 246-256 THE AGENDA PLACES THESE RESOURCES AT YOUR DISPOSITION: see page 237

7 Holistic Vision of the World Latin American Agenda 2011

As we complete twenty years of the Agenda in in which all of us must deal with the consequences of 2011, we dedicate the topic to religion, nothing all the religious positions of our brothers, sisters, and more, nothing less. countries. We find ourselves affected by the religious Our Agenda, aconfessional, ecumenical, and mac- fundamentalism of many human communities, and roecumenical, coming from the perspective of Latin by spiritualism and lack of historical commitment by American liberatory popular education, has always large groups inspired by religions that alienate them had great respect for religion. Just like our peoples, from the world and its problems, like the massive who have traditionally thought that it was something phenomenon of terrorists who commit suicide attacks sacred, untouchable, worthy of respect bordering on in the name of religion, or by the fact that in the reverential fear, or even taboo... only superpower in the world—which, with its votes, But in these times of so much change, this is also doesn’t just choose a president but affects all of us changing. Our “epistemology” is changing. We do not economically, politically, and culturally—50% of the know exactly how, and it isn’t happening overnight, population still believes that the world is 6,000 years but our form of knowing, understanding, and proceed- old (Richard Dawkins), and believes that everything ing based on our understanding is changing. We are will end gloriously in a rapture to heaven (Sam Har- reasoning in a different way. We no longer have these ris)...It is not just their problem; it is also our prob- reverential fears, even less are we frightened by ta- lem. boos. Society has become more conscientious, more Religion is not enclosed in temples, or in our inte- critical, and more mature. We don’t think that there is rior selves; it is present and influential in our society, any danger in a critical analysis, if done with respect in our history, in “Christian capitalism,” in people and honor. We are scandalized by almost nothing, and who feel that they are spiritual beings who have had we do not fall into idealistic intrigues. We recognize the misfortune of falling into the material world and more than ever how complex human beings function. who are destined to go to another world after their It seems to us that now is the time to take on topics death, instead of feeling like native members of the that we have never before broached. These are topics community of life of this planet, called to co-govern that also call for a profound renovation. Because of and transform unjust human history. Many attempts this, our Agenda is about religion. at historical liberation have collapsed due to religious Frequently, in our environments, in support of ec- fears and demands. Religion also needs liberation. umenicism and macroecumenicism, we have thought And liberation also needs religion. The struggle for it useful to put to one side religious topics—relegat- Justice, like the passion for liberation—for which ing them to the privacy of each person—in order to there are so many Latin American martyrs and uni- focus on the “historical praxis of liberation,” the only versal martyrs who preceded them—is a “spiritual” thing that would seem to have decisive importance. experience. Because of this it is important to deal But liberation, like oppression, is also religious. with religion. From our historical perspective, we can see the role Well, with the same passion as each year, here is that religion has played in the legitimization of op- our Latin American Agenda on the topic of religion. pressive regimes, just as it has played a role in move- We want to note the following: ments of liberation and emancipation. Additionally, • We write for everyone...and the family of read- we live in a society that has already been globalized, ers of the Agenda is extremely varied: from commit- 8 ted members of traditional base communities in rural to create electronic educational materials including areas, to university students and professors in the a guide for the educational use of the Agenda for great metropolises like Mexico City and Saõ Paolo. We popular educators, and material more structured to cannot accommodate all material for all audiences. take advantage of opportunities to provide courses • The charism of this Agenda is renovation, being and workshops on this theme in popular education on the border, always moving forward, looking not groups, communities, and classrooms. Keep an eye just at the immediate future, and always with a criti- on the following page for these resources, “Página de cal dimension. We make suggestions that we know información y materials complementarios,” available many people have not intuited yet, and we know that, at www.latinoamericana.org/2011/info . at the beginning, they will seem strange to some...We • On our 20th anniversary, we are putting digital invite you to critically and carefully evaluate them. editions of all our prior Agendas online so they are • Also, this year the Agenda is not confessional freely available to the public, for popular educators but macroecumenical...We do not talk about our reli- and individuals readers alike. You can access them gion, but about religious data, spirituality, and reli- here: latinoamericana.org/Desde1992. gions, all of them respectable and true. • In addition to the paper edition, we are working In brotherhood and sisterhood, José María VIGIL

Pedagogical Use of the Agenda unite the two. Thus, in the list of the to support their work for popular In addition to personal use, this Saints, the Protestant and Catholic service and solidarity. These centers Agenda is designed to be a pedagogi- commemorations have both been ensure the non-profit character of cal instrument for communicators, included. When they do not coincide, each edition. public educators, pastoral agents, the Protestant commemoration is In all cases, the Latin American group leaders, and activists... in cursive. For example, the Apostle Agenda, in its central coordination, The texts are always brief and ag- Peter is celebrated by the Catholic is also a non-profit initiative. It was ile, presented under the pedagogical Church on February 22 (“the Chair born and developed without help concept of one page, formatted such of Peter”), and for the Protestant from any agency. The money gener- that they can be directly photocopied Churches on January 18 (“the Confes- ated by the Agenda, after adequately and distributed as “work material” sion of Peter”); the differences can compensating the authors who write in schools, group meetings, adult be distinguished typographically. in its pages, is dedicated to works of literacy programs, or on literature Kindly, the Lutheran Bishop Kent popular alternative communication tables. They can also be published in Mahler, in an earlier version of the and international solidarity. the bulletins of organizations or in Agenda, presented us with the “Prot- Servicios Koinonia, permanently local magazines. estant Saints.” maintained, constantly improved, and The format of the texts is dic- The Agenda is aconfessional, and, freely accessible around the world, tated by an “economic” criterion above all, “macroecumenical.” The the “Tiempo Axial” Collection, and which possibly sacrifices aesthetics in world of common references, beliefs, some of the prizes financed by the the form of white spaces and illustra- values, and utopias among peoples Agenda are the most well-known. tions in favor of a greater volume of and men and women of good will— A Collective Agenda message. This also allows us to keep which Christians call “the Reign”—is This is a collective work. Because a low price so the Agenda is more shared by all who are partners in this of this, it has gotten to where it is accessible. humble, serving, brotherly, and sis- today. We continue to gladly receive Ecumenicism terly search. suggestions, materials, documents... This agenda is dictated by a A Non-Profit Work In this way, it will continue be- “total ecumenicism,” not a “remain- In many countries, this Agenda ing a “collective work, a community der ecumenicism.” Because of this, is edited by popular and non-profit patrimony, an annual anthology of we do not eliminate what is only organizations that use the money the memory and hope of our spiritual Catholic or only Protestant, but we received from the sale of the agenda Continent.” q 9 By Way of Friendly Introduction

Which God? Which Religion?

Year after year, our Agenda has taken up major topics, themes of burning human urgency, thinking about life, taking up the challenges that reality lays before us. One theme of burning urgency is religion, a really major theme: God. Thinking about certain parts of the First World where God and religion are “a thing of the past,” some might doubt the relevance of this topic. In fact, it is a disconcerting contradiction to see and feel more religiosity than ever and also more disbelief than ever, along with all the ambiguities and all the opportunities that this implies.

The phenomenon of globalization is played out specifically in this theme because the migrant populations, entering the First World “without papers,” do not enter without their God. They carry with them the God of their lives, of the lives of their ancestors. Today, cultures and religions that were known earlier merely through reading or through television images are today, in every country, part of daily life and a source of conflict in families, on the streets, in schools, at work, and in politics. Nietzsche, who has finally received the peace he deserves after his desperate search, has been found wrong in his categorical axiom. It turns out that God is not dead.

The problem lies in understanding what God we are talking about. Evidently we also need to know what we mean by religion and what we think a truly liberated and liberating religion might be.

So, we ponder those two questions: “Which God?” and “What Religion?” The responses are quite serious and disconcerting.

Speaking of God, a rustic friend in our region, who has no interest in metaphysical categories, answered with utmost simplicity and devotion: “God is a good man.” The prophet Hosea places the following categorical identification in the mouth of God (the God Yahweh), without any possible comeback: “I am God and not a human.” (Hosea 11:9). The writer José Saramago, a Nobel Laureate in literature and a committed and militant atheist, nevertheless makes religion a frequent theme in his writings and has given us a poetic and contemplative definition of God: “God is the silence of the universe and humans are the cry that gives meaning to that silence.” Another Nobel Laureate, the Spanish poet, Juan Ramón Jiménez, has said that having doubts is not contrary to God but rather goes in God’s favor. Our liberation theologians remind us that the opposite of faith is not doubt but rather fear (fear of God, quite often). Which God, what religion, Translated by Richard Renshaw. by Richard Translated

10 what salvation.... A Pentecostal neighbor gave me food for thought: “Good people are saved because they are good and evil people are also saved because God is good and forgives.”

This Agenda, which is the result of many exchanges about the topic and the impli- cations thereof, offers a fairly complete catalogue of the various aspects of the theme: the history of religions and of atheism or unbelief; the difference and complementarity between spirituality and religion; religion that encourages and justifies wars; spiritualism, fundamentalism, and alienation, which have been denounced so many times in the past and yet persist even today; the need for interreligious dialogue; macroecumenicism; the transformation of power, of wealth, and of consumerism into sacred powers; the fall of old gods and their replacement by new ones; the need, the basic thirst, for answers to the major questioning of the human heart; the search for the meaning of one’s personal life and that of human society as a whole.

After all the wars and inquisitions, we are beginning to ask whether a true religion can exist by attacking, closing in on itself, and forcing an assent of faith (even though this latter is gratuitous, a matter of the heart, the search of a whole lifetime, and an entire history). All religions can be true and all can contain, simultaneously, a great deal of falsehood. (We need to be grateful for the statement of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He says that “all religions have the same dignity and importance.”)

There has been a practice of making a tripartite classification of the fundamental characteristics of religions according to cultures and periods. The Afro-Indigenous religious would, in this sense, be religions of Nature. Obviously today that Nature would be seen and venerated ecologically. The Oriental religions would be religions of interiority, contemplative, and even gratuitous. And the Judeo-Christian religions would be those of History, of Love-Justice, of prophecy, of politics. Logically, all religions would be a search for God, the welcoming of God, hope in God. It would be a God who is always searching for us, welcoming us, and revealing Godself, each day, in all corners of Human geography. No religion has the exclusive right to that God of all names, a God who forgives and saves because God is love.

The Agenda avoids proselytism and wants to stimulate all the humanizing riches that religions provide, without crusades and without supermarkets. It wants to let God dialogue with God, the God of the Human family and of the whole Universe, always thinking holistically and in terms of persons. God is not a concept, not a dogma. God is more than just a cause. Which God are we talking about? Of which God do we dream? Saint Teresa of Avila had a little poem that is known all over the world. In it she says: God alone is enough. With respectful caring I say to the great Teresa: God alone is enough, Teresa / only if it is that God / who is God and all of us and everything / in communion.” Pedro CASALDÁLIGA

11 Martyrology Anniversaries 2011 Latin american Martyrology

1971: 40 years 10.4: Omar Venturelli, martyr to the poor, Temuco, Chile. 6.9: Hector Gallego, Colombian priest, 34 years old, martyr 10.11: Marta González de Baronetto and companions, mar- to the campesinos, Veraguas, Panama. tyrs to faith and service, Córdoba, Argentina. 8.21: Mauricio Lefevre, Canadian Oblate Missionary, assassi- 10.12: Juan Bosco Penido Burnier, assassinated by the poli- nated during a military coup in Bolivia. ce in front of Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga, Brazil. 9.1: Julio Spósito Vitali, student, 19 years old, militant 10.22: Ernesto Lahourcade, union leader, Argentina. Christian, assassinated by the police. 1981: 30 years 1976: 35 years 1.2: José Manuel de Souza, “Zé Piau”, laborer, victim of the 2.2: José Tedeschi (MSTM), worker priest, martyr to the main “grileiros” (landowners with false papers), Pará, Brazil. immigrants and “villeros” in Argentina. 1.3: Diego Quic, Indigenous catechist, leader in the popular 2.13: Francisco Soares, priest, martyr to justice among the organizations of Guatemala, disappeared. poor in El Tigre, Argentina. 1.7: Sebastián Mearin, rural leader in Pará, Brazil, assassina- 3.23: María del Carmen Maggi, university professor, martyr ted by “grileiros.” to liberating education, Argentina. 1.15: Estela Pajuelo Grimani, campesina, 55 years old, mar- 3.24: Military coup in Argentina, 30,000 disappeared. tyr to solidarity, Peru. 4.3: Víctor Bionchenko and Lilian Coleman, of the Evangeli- 1.17: Ana María Castillo, militant Christian, guerrillera, cal Church of Cosquín. Assassinated, Argentina. martyr to justice in El Salvador. 5.14: Beatriz Carbonell, Horacio Pérez, Marta Vásquez, César 1.17: Silvia Maribel Arriola, religious nurse, martyr in a com- Lugones, Mónica Mignone, Esther Lorusso, and Mónica Quin- bat zone, she accompanied the Salvadoran people. teiro: Taken away on the “death flights,” Argentina. 1.18: José Eduardo, union leader in Acre, Brazil, assassina- 5.20: Héctor Gutiérrez and Zelmar Michellini, political lea- ted by a “grileiro.” ders and militant Christians, martyrs, Uruguay. 1.21: Oscar Armando Ramos, Salvadoran catechist, assassi- 6.16: Aurora Vivar Vásquez, Christian activist, union leader, nated with bullets and mutilated. martyr to the workers’ struggles in Peru. 2.4: Massacre of Chimaltenango,Guatemala, 68 dead. 7.4: Alfredo Kelly, Pedro Dufau, Alfredo Leaden, Salvador 2.15: Juan Alonso Hernández, missionary, martyr to the Barbeito and José Barletti, Pallottine Fathers, Bs Aires. Indigenous campesinos of Guatemala. 7.7: Arturo Bernal, Christian campesino, leader of the Agra- 2.16: Albino Amarilla, campesino leader and catechist, killed rian Leagues, killed under torture, Paraguay. by the army, martyr to the Paraguayan people. 7.12: Aurelio Rueda, priest, martyr to the slum-dwellers in 3.18: Presentación Ponce, Delegate of the Word, and her Colombia. companions, martyrs in the Nicaraguan revolution. 7.15: Rodolfo Lunkenbein, missionary, and Simão, Bororo 3.18: Hundreds of campesino women, children and elderly chief, martyrs to the Indigenous peoples, Brazil. persons, assassinated by the army in Cabañas, El Salvador. 7.17: Workers, martyrs at the Ledesma foundry, Argentina. 4.14: Massacre in Morazán, El Salvador: 150 children, 600 7.18: Carlos Murias and Gabriel Longueville, priests, kidnap- elderly people and 700 women. ped and killed in La Rioja, Argentina. 5.1: Raynaldo Edmundo Lemus Preza, of the BECs, in Soya- 7.25: Wenceslao Pedernera, campesino leader in the Agrarian pango, El Salvador, disappeared along with Edwin Laínez. Cooperatives, martyr in La Rioja, Argentina. 5.14: Carlos Gálvez Galindo, priest, martyr, Guatemala. 8.4: Enrique Angelelli, bishop of La Rioja, Argentina, martyr 5.16: Edgar Castillo, journalist, assassinated, Guatemala. to the Cause of the poor, assassinated. 5.20: Pedro Aguilar Santos, priest, martyr to the cause of 8.16: Coco Erbetta, catechist, university student, martyr to the poor and persecuted, Guatemala. the struggle of the Argentinean people. 6.9: Toribia Flores de Cutipa, campesino martyr, victim of 9.1: Inés Adriana Cobo, activist in the Methodist Church, police repression in Peru. martyr to the poor, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 6.12: Joaquín Neves Norte, lawyer to the rural union of 9.3: Ramón Pastor Bogarín, bishop, university founder, Naviraí, Paraná, Brazil, assassinated. prophet of the Church in Asunción, Paraguay. 7.1: Tulio Maruzzo, Italian priest, and Luis Navarrete, cate- 9.24: Marlene Kegler, worker student, martyr in service to chist, martyrs in Guatemala. the university students of La Plata, Argentina. 7.5: Emeterio Toj, Indigenous, kidnapped, Guatemala. 12 7.15: Misael Ramírez, campesino, community animator, 7.6: Rodrigo Rojas, activist, martyr in the struggle for demo- martyr to justice in Colombia. cracy for the Chilean people. 7.20: Massacre of Coyá, Guatemala: three hundred dead 9.19: Charlot Jacqueline and literacy activists, martyrs to including women, children and the elderly. liberating education, Haiti. 7.25: Angel Martínez Rodrigo, Spanish, and Raúl José Léger, 10.23: Vilmar José de Castro, activist in the cause of land, Canadian, lay missionaries, martyrs, Guatemala. assassinated in Caçú, Goiás, Brazil. 7.28: Stanley Rother, American priest who worked for the 10.28: Mauricio Maraglio, missionary, martyr to the land, Brazil. poor, assassinated, Santiago de Atitlán, Guatemala. 1991: 20 years 7.30: Miguel Hidalgo, pastor of Dolores and hero of the 2.2: Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, president of the rural union Independence of Mexico is killed by a firing squad. in Rio Maria, Pará, Brazil, assassinated. 8.2: Carlos Pérez Alonso, priest, apostle to the sick and 3.19: Felisa Urrutia, Carmelita Vedruna, assassinated in imprisoned, disappeared, Guatemala. Cagua, martyr to serving the poor. 9.11: Sebastiana Mendoza, Indigenous, catechist, martyr to 4.29: Moisés Cisneros Rodríguez, Marist Religious, victim of faith and solidarity in El Quiché, Guatemala. violence and impunity in Guatemala. 9.15: Pedro Pío Cortés, Indigenous of the Achí people, cate- 5.3: Felipe Huete, Delegate of the Word and companions, chist, Delegate of the Word in Rabinal, Guatemala. martyrs to the Agrarian Reform, El Astillero, Honduras. 9.17: John David Troyer, American Mennonite missionary, 5.14: Porfirio Suny Quispe, activist and educator, martyr to martyr to justice in Guatemala. justice and solidarity in Peru. 9.30: Honorio Alejandro Núñez, Celebrant of the Word, mar- 5.21: Jaime Gutiérrez Alvarez, religious, Colombia. tyr to the struggles of the Honduran people. 5.21: Irene Mc’Cormack, missionary, and companions, mar- 10.22: Eduardo Capiau, Belgian Religious, martyr to solidari- tyrs to the cause of the poor, Peru. ty in Guatemala. 6.1: João de Aquino, president of the Workers’ Union in 10.23: Marco Antonio Ayerbe Flores, university student, Peru. Nueva Iguazú, assassinated. 11.1: Simón Hernández, Indigenous of the Achi people, 7.7: Carlos Bonilla, laborer, martyr for the right to work in catechist, Delegate of the world in Rabinal, Guatemala. Citlaltepetl, México. 12.1: Diego Uribe, priest, martyr to the struggle for the 7.8: Martín Ayala, activist, martyr to solidarity among the liberation of his people, Colombia. marginalized of his Salvadoran people. 12.7: Lucio Aguirre and Elpidio Cruz, Hondurans, Celebrators 7.13: Riccy Mabel Martínez, symbol of the struggle of the of the Word and martyrs to solidarity. people of Honduras against military impunity. 12.12: El Mozote massacre,a thousand campesinos were tor- 7.15: Julio Quevedo Quezada, catechist in El Quiché, assas- tured and assassinated by the army, Morazán, El Salvador. sinated by State security forces, Guatemala. 1986: 25 años 7.27: Eliseo Castellano, priest, Puerto Rico. 1.6: Julio González, bishop of Puno, Peru, killed in an “acci- 8.9: Miguel Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strzalkowski, Francis- dent” after receiving a death threat. cans, Missionaries in Peru, witnesses to peace and justice. 2.10: Alberto Koenigsknecht, bishop of Juli, Peru, killed in 8.25: Alessandro Dordi Negroni, missionary, martyr to the an “accident” for his option for the poor. faith and to human development, Peru. 2.16: Mauricio Demierre, Swiss volunteer, and campesino 9.14: Alfredo Aguirre & Fortunato Collazos, martyrs to com- companions, assassinated by the “contra,” Nicaragua. mitment to their brothers in San Juan de Lurigancho, Peru. 3.15: Antonio Chaj Solís and Manuel Recinos and companio- 9.30: Vicente Matute and Francisco Guevara, Indigenous ns, Evangelicals, martyrs to the faith, Guatemala. martyrs to the struggle for land, Honduras. 3.25: Donato Mendoza, Delegate of the Word and companio- 9.30: José Luis Cerrón, university student, martyr to solida- ns, martyrs to the faith, Nicaragua. rity among youth and the poor in Huancayo, Peru. 4.11: Antonio Hernández, journalist and popular leader, 12.16: Indigenous martyrs in Cauca, Colombia. martyr to solidarity in Bogota. 2001: 10 years 4.14: Adelaide Molinari, Religious, martyr in the struggle of 5.5: Bárbara Ann Ford, 64, American Sister, for helping the the marginalized in Marabá, Brazil. victims of war to speak out, Guatemala. 5.10: Father Josimo Morais, martyr to land ministry, assassi- 9.19: Yolanda Cerón Delgado of the Company of Mary, Direc- nated by Imperatriz Brasil, a large landowner. tor of Social Ministry in Tumaco, Colombia, assassinated. 5.15: Nicolás Chuy Cumes, Evangelical pastor and journalist, 10.19: Digna Ochoa, engaged in the investigation of disap- martyr to freedom of expression, Guatemala. pearances, killings, torture.... assassinated, México DF. 5.24: Ambrosio Mogorrón, Spanish nurse and companion 12.19: Claudio “Pocho” Leprati, neighborhood leader, cate- servicioskoinonia.org/martirologio campesinos, martyrs to solidarity, Nicaragua. chist, assassinated; Rosario, Argentina: pochormiga.com.ar 13 Premios otorgados en los certámenes... Results

• El Premio del Concurso de Cuento Corto Latino- do por el Centro de Comunicación y Educación CANTERA, americano (500 euros) lo han ganado, ex aequo, a partes de Managua, Nicaragua, ha otorgado un accésit, de 100 iguales, Aroldo Moisés PESCADO, guatemalteco (angu_ US$, a Vilma Amanda AGUINAGA, de Managua, Nicara- [email protected]), con «Los titanes del tiempo», y Su- gua, ([email protected]), por su trabajo «La sana BENAVIDES, costarricense (delosangeles25@hotmail lógica de la irracionalidad» (lo publicamos en la página .com), por «El recuerdo o la esperanza». Publicamos 240). El primer premio ha quedado desierto. ambos cuentos cortos en esta misma edición de la Agenda Con las mismas bases bajo un nuevo enfoque, queda (págs. 236-237). Convocamos para el año que viene la convocado el certamen para el año que viene, con el tema XVIIª edición del Concurso. Véase la pág. 17. de «La espiritualidad». Véase la pág. 17. Una amplia antología de «Cuentos cortos latinoame- ricanos» -ya más de ochenta-, no sólo los ganadores, sino • En el Certamen de Novedades Ecoteológicas, convo- los mejores de entre todos los que se presentan a concur- cado por el Grupo de investigación «Ecoteología» de la so, está siendo puesta en línea como una sección de los Facultad de Teología de la Universidad Javeriana de Bogo- Servicios Koinonía, con los mejores cuentos recibidos en tá, ha resultado desierto este año. Con una nueva temá- todos estos años. En: servicioskoinonia.org/cuentoscortos tica y en un nivel muy asequible, es convocado de nuevo este año en su VIIª edición. Véase la pág. 20. • El premio del Concurso de Páginas Neobíblicas, dotado con 500 euros, ha sido concedido a Gerardo GUI- • En el Certamen «Concepción cristiana del ser hu- LLÉN DE LA ROSA ([email protected]), por mano y antropocentrismo», ha quedado desierto. su página neobíblica «Jesús los envía en misión», actua- Con las mismas bases, nueva dotación y nueva temáti- lización del envío de Jesús a los 72. Publicamos en esta ca, es convocada la Xª edición del Certamen. Cfr. pág. 19. edición el texto ganador. El Jurado otorga una mención honorífica a la página deOrlando VALDÉS CAMACHO, • El premio del concurso convocado por el Colectivo por su página «El árbol, símbolo de vida y comunión con Ronda de Abogados, de Barcelona, ha quedado desierto. Dios». (Véase págs. 238-239). Felicitaciones a todos... El concurso es convocado para el próximo año, en su Convocamos la XVIª edición de este Concurso en esta ya IXª edición. Véase la pág. 18. Agenda Latinoamericana’2011. Vea la pág. 17. Una amplia antología de «Páginas Neobíblicas» (ya • La Revista Alternativas y la Fundación Verapaz más de un centenar) recibidas para el concurso en éste y ha otorgado el Premio Antonio Montesinos, en su XVª otros años, continúa siendo publicada como una sección edición, a la Hna Luisa CAMPOS VILLALÓN OP. Véase el de los Servicios Koinonía: servicioskoinonia.org/neobiblicas premio y su justificación en la página de al lado, 15. Recordamos que para este Premio se puede presentar • El jurado del Concurso de Género sobre el tema candidatos para la consideración del Jurado; véase la con- «Perspectiva de género en el desarrollo social», patrocina vocatoria, renovada para su XVIª edición, en la pág. 17.

Los premios que proclama esta página son los concedidos en los certámenes convocados por la Agenda’2010; véalos también en: http://latinoamericana.org/2010/premios Las convocatorias de esta Agenda’2011, para 2012, véalas en: http://latinoamericana.org/2011/convocatorias 14 Results ...convocados en 2010 para 2011

La Revista «ALTERNATIVAS» y la Fundación VERAPAZ, de Managua, Nicaragua, otorgan el «PREMIO ANTONIO MONTESINOS al gesto profético en defensa • En el concurso de Socioecología urbana, convocado por el Grupo de Reflexión «Converses a sa serena», el de la dignidad humana», Jurado, ha otorgado el primer premio, ex aequo, a partes en su XVª edición, de 2011, a: iguales, a EcoBase (www.cultivobiointensivo.net/EcoBA- SE), de República Dominicana, junto con Melba Alejandra Luisa CAMPOS VILLALÓN op BOTALÍN AGUILÓ ([email protected]), de Cuba, Fundadora y actual Directora del Centro Antonio por sus respectivas participaciones. El premio está dotado Montesinos, dedicado a la formación en derechos con 800 euros. Felicitaciones... humanos con los grupos más vulnerables y pobres, • El concurso convocado por «Redes de Solidaridad con sede en el Convento de los Dominicos en Santo y esperanza», ha resultado desierto. Todos los concursan- Domingo, República Dominicana, Luisa CAMPOS ha tes han recibido un certificado de acreditación. «Redes» dedicado su vida al trabajo con los/as más pobres vuelve a convocar el concurso con una nueva temática en del país y del Caribe, y ha tenido gran impacto en su ya VIª edición. Véase pág. 16. la vida religiosa, a través de CODAL y de Justicia y Paz de la Orden dominica. Luisa Campos es • Son tres los Concursos cuyos plazos para el envío de fundadora del Centro Dominicano de Asesoría e participaciones es posterior al 31 de marzo, lo que hace Investigaciones Legales, CEDAIL, de apoyo a los que su resultado no alcance a ser recogido en nuestra Agenda, cuyo cierre tiene lugar en abril; los concursos son: grupos más marginados y excluidos del país. - sobre «Instrumentos pedagógicos para el cambio Ha dedicado gran parte de su larga vida al de conciencia ambiental», convocado por la Fundación estudio de la vida de la primera comunidad do- ECODES, minica en la Isla y sus repercusiones para los - sobre Difusión de los principios del decrecimiento, derechos humanos en el resto del Continente. Su convocado por la Comissiò de la Agenda Llatinoameri- tesis de teología «Pedro de Córdoba, Precursor de cana, una comunidad defensora de la Vida» (publicada - y el convocado por la Coordinadora Continental por Ediciones MSC, Santo Domingo 2008, 207 pp, Latinoamericana de las Comunidades de Base. prólogo de Carlos Aspiroz, Maestro de la Orden de El resultado de estos concursos será publicado en internet, el primero de noviembre de 2011, junto con el re- Predicadores) es un revelador aporte a la actual sultado de todos los concursos convocados por la Agenda, reflexión sobre la contemplación y la acción de en su página: latinoamericana.org/2011/premios los evangelizadores hoy. La vida religiosa dominicana y los pobres del FELICITACIONES a todos los premiados, y nuestro país han sido testigos, por largos años, de la AGRADECIMIENTO a todos los que han participado. Les constancia, arduo valor, riesgos y ternura en el esperamos un año más... compromiso con los pobres, de la Hermana Luisa Cada año, los premios de los concursos de la Agenda Campos op, una expresión del «gesto profético en latinoamericana se publican en la edición siguiente, y defensa de la dignidad humana» que este premio también, el primero de noviembre, en su sede virtual: de la Fundación Verapaz quiere enaltecer. http://latinoamericana.org ❑ 15 Invitación de las CEBs de A.L. Contests Concurso En el marco del Relanzamiento de las Comunidades Ecle- siales de Base, la Articulación Continental de las Comunidades Transformando Eclesiales de Base (CEBs) de América Latina y el Caribe, nuestra idea de Dios INVITA a participar en la recogida de TESTIMONIOS de Vida de Mujeres de las Comunidades Eclesiales de Base. Queremos VIª Edición recuperar testimonios: - del aporte de las mujeres de CEBs en la vida cotidiana, ordinaria donde se gestan cosas extraordinarias. Es una forma A pesar de que la mayoría de de dar rostro a las mujeres que han construido y construyen nuestro Continente Latinoamericano comunidad en la iglesia y en la sociedad y cuyo testimonio nos se declara cristiano, encontramos anima y enriquece. serias diferencias y contradicciones - de nuestras matriarcas, mujeres de larga trayectoria en sobre la concepción de Dios. El mundo este caminar. está plagado de pobreza y desigualda- - de diferentes generaciones de mujeres que desde su des, pero nuestro Continente «cristia- desarrollo en comunidad se han comprometido en diferentes no», es el más desigual de todos, en servicios (ecología, salud, participación ciudadana, catequesis, términos económicos(*). cultura...) Por otra parte, en los últimos años - testimonios colectivos de comunidades en las que las han ocurrido «desastres naturales», mujeres han emprendido acciones a favor de la vida. como en Haití y Chile, que han lleva- Con las siguiente BASES: do a cristianos a decir: «eso es casti- 1. Podrán participar laicos/as, sacerdotes, agentes de pas- go de Dios»... toral, religiosos y religiosas, comunidades. 2. Los trabajos deberán ser presentados en formato digital. ¿En qué Dios creemos? ¿En qué De preferencia deberán venir acompañados de 3-5 fotografías Dios queremos creer? El Dios en el que de las mujeres que presentan o de su labor realizada. En espa- creemos; ¿es el Dios de Jesús? ñol o portugués. Extensión libre. 3. El envío deberá acompañarse de identificación completa REDES, (http://redesperanza.org) del autor/es y una presentación personal, que incluya: tiempo Red de Esperanza y Solidaridad de de participar en CEBs, servicios desempeñados, responsabilidad Puerto Rico, actual en CEBs, diócesis y parroquia a la que se pertenece...o si no pertenece a una comunidad pero las conoce y desea escribir CONVOCA a todos y a todas a también es válido) reflexionar sobre estas preguntas. 4. Al participar otorgan gratuitamente a la Articulación Continental de las CEBs, entidad convocante, el derecho de Envíe su reflexión (de hasta 7.000 publicar sus trabajos -siempre con el reconocimiento de su pulsaciones), personal o colectiva autoría-, con fines de divulgación e intercambio y promoción (con su comunidad, sus alumnos/as, de las CEBs. sus vecinos, su grupo de amigos/ 5. Los testimonios deberán ser enviados antes del 1 de as...), antes del 31 de marzo de 2011, octubre de 2011, a: [email protected] a: [email protected] 6. Los testimonios serán compilados en una edición digital El premio está dotado con 500 que será publicada en febrero del 2012 en la página continen- dólares y un diploma acreditativo de tal de las CEBs: www.cebcontinental.org participación. 7. Más información: [email protected] (Carmen Ro- (*) Véase la p. 21 de esta misma Agenda. mero) o [email protected] Y en el tel. (52) (55) ❑ 56 88 63 36. ❑ 16 Contests Concurso de «Páginas Neobíblicas», XVIª edición La Agenda Latinoamericana convoca la XVIª edición básica en la forma, lo que se premia es el contenido, del Concurso de «Páginas neobíblicas»: el acierto y la creatividad en la «relectura» de la página 1. Temática: tomando pie en alguna figura, situa bíblica escogida. ción o mensaje bíblico, sea del Primero o del Segundo 3. Los trabajos habrán de llegar antes del 31 de Testamento, los concursantes intentarán una «relectura» marzo de 2011 a: [email protected] desde la actual situación latinoamericana o mundial. 4. Premio: 350 euros y su publicación en la Agen 2. Los textos no deberán exceder de 9000 pulsacio- da'2012. nes. En castellano o portugués o catalán, en prosa o Será hecho público el 1 de noviembre de 2011 en poesía, teniendo en cuenta que, supuesta una calidad http://latinoamericana.org/2012/premios servicioskoinonia.org/neobiblicas Concurso «Género y compromiso político», XVIª edición

El Centro de Comunicación y Educación Popular 2. Extensión e idioma: Máximo de mil palabras, ó CANTERA (www.canteranicaragua.org) y la Agenda La- 6000 pulsaciones. En castellano, portugués, o en otros tinoamericana convocan la XVIª edición del concurso idiomas adjuntando una traducción al castellano. «Perspectiva de género en el desarrollo social». Las bases 3. Los trabajos habrán de llegar antes del 15 de son: marzo del año 2011 a: Cantera, Apdo. A-52, Managua, 1. Temática: «La vivencia de la espiritualidad en Nicaragua, [email protected], tel.: (505)-2277.5329 la equidad de género. La espiritualidad vista desde la 4. El texto ganador será premiado con 500 US$. El conexión de la persona con el Universo, consigo misma, jurado podrá declarar desierto el premio, pero podrá con la Naturaleza y con la Sociedad». En estilo de ensayo. también conceder uno o varios accésits de 100 US$. Premio Antonio Montesinos al gesto profético en defensa de la dignidad humana, XVIª edición La Revista «Alternativas» y la Fundación Verapaz 2. Cualquier grupo, persona o comunidad puede pre- convocan esta XVIª edición del «Premio Antonio Montesi sentar candidatos a este premio, razonando los motivos nos al gesto profético en defensa de la dignidad humana y acompañándolos con firmas si lo cree oportuno, antes en América Latina». Bases: del 31 de marzo de 2011, a: Fundación Verapaz / Apdo. 1. Se quiere significar con esta distinción a la co- P-177 / Managua / Nicaragua / tel.: (505)-2265.06.95 / munidad, grupo humano o persona cuya defensa de los [email protected] derechos humanos actualice mejor hoy el gesto profético 3. El jurado admitirá a concurso tanto acciones pun- de Antonio Montesinos en La Española cuando se enfren- tuales, cuanto trabajos duraderos o actitudes proféticas tó a la violencia de la conquista con su grito «Éstos, ¿no mantenidas a lo largo de mucho tiempo. son seres humanos?». 4. Premio: 500 US$. Podrá ser declarado desierto.

Concurso de «Cuento Corto Latinoamericano», XVIIª edición La Agenda Latinoamericana convoca esta décimo- ción de esta hora histórica… sexta edición del Concurso, con las siguientes bases: 4. Los textos deberán llegar antes del 31 de marzo de 1. Puede concursar toda persona que sintonice con 2011 a: [email protected] las Causas de la Patria Grande. 5. El cuento ganador será premiado con 350 euros, 2. Extensión e idioma: máximo de 18.000 pulsacio y será publicado en la Agenda Latinoamericana’2012 (en nes. En castellano o portugués. unos 18 países). El fallo del jurado será hecho público 3. Temática: el cuento debe tratar de iluminar, desde el 1 de noviembre de 2011 en http:// latinoamericana. su propio carácter literario, la actual coyuntura espiri org/2012/premios tual de América Latina: sus utopías, dificultades, moti 6. El jurado podrá declarar desierto el premio, pero

servicioskoinonia.org/cuentoscortos vaciones para la esperanza, alternativas, la interpreta también podrá conceder accésits de 100 euros. 17 Premio «Col·lectiu Ronda de abogados» Contests IXª Edición Defensa jurídica de los pobres y dimensión espiritual

El Col·lectiu Ronda de Barcelona, asesoría jurídica, laboral, económica y social al servicio de las clases populares, fiel a su tradición de pensamiento y de compromiso, convoca la IX edición del Premio Ronda para el año 2011, para homenajear las iniciativas de defensa jurídica de los pobres fundamentada en una sensibilidad o dimensión explícita o implícitamente religiosa. A primera vista puede parecer incongruente que el Col·lectiu Ronda, que se considera laico, convoque un premio con connotaciones religiosas. Pero hemos considerado que la laicidad compor- ta el pluralismo, y por lo tanto incluye tanto a las personas con sensibilidad religiosa como a las que se profesan agnósticas o ateas. Las experiencias que éstas llevan a cabo están fundamentadas, sin duda, en la estimación para el otro, y por lo tanto por una disposición de compartir, que tiene como apoyo la dimensión altruista. Así, la convocatoria va dirigida: A aquellas experiencias en las que la vivencia religiosa o sensibilidad amorosa o dimensión altruista mejor se muestre como defensora de los pobres. También va dirigida a las experiencias de defensa de los pobres en las que figuren recursos y enfoques en los que la dimensión espiritual, en el más amplio sentido de la expresión, estén presentes, o en las que el compromiso de defensa se fundamente en aquella dimensión. Obviamente, cuando hablamos de «pobres» nos estamos refiriendo también a los excluidos, marginados, oprimidos, y cuando decimos «dimensión espiritual» tenemos en cuenta el pluralismo mencionado más arriba. Por todo eso, el Col·lectiu Ronda de Abogados,

C O N V O C A : a las entidades, grupos, colectivos y personas que desde la dimensión espiritual explicada se dedican a la defensa del pobre, a participar en un concurso, con las siguientes

B A S E S : Presentación de un informe claro y concreto sobre la experiencia y la relación de la misma con la sensibilidad o dimensión espiritual. Habrá de referirse al contexto social, la composición y motivación de la persona o entidad concursante, así como las actividades realizadas y la evalua- ción de los resultados. Debe incluirse adicionalmente una memoria informativa de presentación de la entidad. Idioma: castellano, portugués o catalán; o cualquier otro en el que se publica la Agenda acompañando traducción a cualquiera de los citados. Envío y plazo: Deberá ser enviado, antes del 31 de marzo de 2011, a: [email protected] y a [email protected]

www.cronda.coop Premio: 1500 (mil quinientos) euros. Podrá ser declarado desierto, y también ser concedido algún accésit. ❑ 18 Contests Certamen Agenda/Missio Institut Xª edición Hacia un Concilio macroecuménico

Planteamiento

En 2012 se cumplirán 50 años del comienzo del Concilio Vaticano II. Quizá haya sido el acontecimiento religioso occidental que más influyó en el pasado siglo XX. Sus desafíos fueron tantos que el miedo suscitó la involución. Pero, balances aparte, 50 años más tarde, el mundo con el que el Concilio Vaticano II dialogó ya no existe. Nuestra problemática actual es muy diferente. Tal vez, ni siquiera un Vaticano III tendría sentido... ¿Debería ser un Jerusalén II, o un... concilio macroecuménico? En el mundo actual, en el que la Humanidad ha tomado conciencia - de que es una única familia, - de que «todas las religiones son verdaderas», - de que está en peligro inminente la viabilidad de la vida humana en el planeta, - de que sólo habrá paz en el mundo cuando la haya entre las religiones - y de que es preciso replantear de un modo nuevo el sentido y el papel de la reli- gión en el mundo humano y en la vida del planeta, ¿cuáles podrían ser las prioridades, la temática, los protagonistas, la metodología de ese posible Concilio macroecuménico?

La Agenda Latinoamericana Mundial, en la décima edición de este certamen, C O N V O C A a los teólogos y teólogas, y les invita a elaborar teológicamente esta temática, sobre las siguientes

BASES:

-Pueden participar teólogos/as de cualquier país y de cualquier confesión o religión. Se valorará especialmente la participación de las teólogas, aunque sin discriminación de género hacia los teólogos. -Extensión mínima: 15 páginas (30.000 pulsaciones). -Los trabajos, que han de ser inéditos y originales, bien centrados en el tema, y serán presentados en castellano, portugués o catalán. -Entrega: antes del 31 de marzo de 2011, por correo-e, a la Agenda Latinoamerica- na ([email protected]), con copia a [email protected] -El premio, patrocinado por el MWI, Missionswissenschaftliches Institut de Aachen (Aquisgrán, Alemania), consistirá en 1.000 (mil) euros. www.mwi-aachen.org -Al participar, los concursantes otorgan a los convocantes el derecho a publicar los textos ganadores, en cualquier medio. ❑ 19 CONCURSO DE

Contests «Experiencias eco-teológicas» Diálogos entre ecología y religión

VIIª Edición

El equipo de investigación «ECOTEOLOGÍA», de la Facultad de Teología de la Pontificia Universi- dad Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia)

CONVOCA al concurso «EXPERIENCIAS ECO-TEOLÓGICAS: Diálogos sobre ecología y religión», cuyas bases son:

1. Participantes: El certamen tiene un enfoque macroecuménico, por tanto pueden participar en él, sin ningún tipo de restricción, todas las personas, comunidades e instituciones que sintoni- cen con las causas de la Patria Grande. 2. Temática: Dado el enfoque general de la Agenda Latinoamericana Mundial 2011, cada trabajo deberá socializar experiencias en las que se innove el sentido de lo religioso a partir de la conciencia y la gestión ecológicas. Se trata de dar a conocer experiencias que sean significativas en el diálogo entre ecología y religión, por medio de las cuales se plantee, intuya, sugiera... nuevas imágenes de Dios (representaciones mentales, modelos, metáforas, etc.) desde la perspectiva de la ecología profunda, superando la visión «teísta» clásica de un «theos-Zeus» transcendente, exterior, ‘ahí-arriba’, ‘ahí-afuera’.. Una Divinidad encontrada más bien aquí-abajo, adentro, en la misma in- terioridad de la materia-energía, en relación con la evolución del Universo o el carácter inmanente- trascendente-transparente del Dios Creador respecto a su Creación. 3. Pautas: Para presentar las experiencias, los concursantes pueden hacer uso de lenguajes alternativos (narraciones, poesías, canciones, videos, fotografías, entre otros) en los que se descri- ba el contexto, se precise la acción o el proyecto y se expliciten los contenidos ecoteológicos que aportan para vislumbrar otras formas de comprender a Dios a partir del diálogo entre ecología y religión. En cualquiera de los casos, es necesario redactar un documento más descriptivo y analítico de la experiencia. La extensión máxima para el documento completo es de 10 hojas tamaño carta (o 20.000 pulsaciones) en castellano o portugués (si el trabajo está en otro idioma diferente debe incluirse una traducción al castellano). 4. Fecha límite: Los textos, que deben ser inéditos y originales, deberán llegar antes del 31 de marzo del 2011 a [email protected] con copia a [email protected] o a la Carrera 5 nº 39-00, Piso 2 Edificio Arrupe, «Equipo Ecoteología», Facultad de Teología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá D.C. – Colombia. 5. Incentivos: El texto ganador será premiado con 250 US$ y un paquete de materiales eco- pedagógicos. El jurado podrá declarar desierto el premio, así como conceder uno o varios accésits. Asimismo, los mejores trabajos serán divulgados a través de la página de la Universidad Javeriana, desde el enlace «Ecoteología». La Agenda Latinoamericana Mundial podrá publicar total o parcial- mente aquellos trabajos que mejor contribuyan a impulsar el diálogo ecología – teología en nues- ecoteologiapuj.blogspot.com tro Oikos: la Creación. ❑ 20 Premio L.A.: The Most Unequal Continent a la difusión The Richest 20% Retain 57% of the Wealth de los principios Inequality between the rich and the poor in Latin America has increased in recent years. Today, del «decrecimiento» the richest 20% enjoy 56.9% of resources, while the poorest 20% receive just 3.5%, which makes it the IIIª Edición most unequal region in the world. “The country with the least inequality in income in Latin America has more inequality than any country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or any country of Eastern La «Comisión Agenda Latinoamericana», de Giro- Europe,” the document signals. na, Cataluña, España, Brazil is the least equal country, given that the richest 10% capture more than half (50.6%) of in- C O N V O C A este concurso, con las siguientes come, compared with the 0.8% that the poorest 10% bases: of the population receive. Mexico is the second most unequal country, given Temática: El «decrecimiento», como alternativa al that the richest tenth of the population receives crecimiento ilimitado. 42.2% of income, compared with the 1.3% that the poorest tenth receive. Contenido y formato: Se premiará a la persona, In Argentina, in third place, 41.7% of income is comunidad o entidad que, mediante trabajos obtained by the highest portion of society in contrast escritos, organización de cursos o conferencias, to the 1.1% of income that the least favored receive. trabajos de investigación, realización de mate- In Venezuela, in fourth place, the richest 10% rial audiovisual, creación de material pedagógi- collect 36.8% of money and the richest 30% control co para adultos o escolares, ejecución de accio- 65.1% of resources, while the poorest 10% are obli- nes directas, etc., realice una mejor difusión de gated to survive on barely 0.9%. los principios del «decrecimiento». In Columbia, the richest 10% obtain 49.1% of income, in contrast with the 0.9% that the poorest Plazo y envío: Los trabajos o memorias de los actos have. In Chile, the number is 42.5% in comparison organizados tendrán que llegar antes del 31 de with 1.5%. junio del 2011 a: Comissiò de l’Agenda Llati- The most equal countries of the region are Nica- noamericana, calle Santa Eugènia 17, 17005-Gi- ragua, Panama, and Paraguay, although even in these rona, España. Tel.: + 34 - 972 219916. Correo-e: three, the differences between the rich and poor are [email protected] abysmal, since the 10% most rich consume more than 40% of resources. Idioma: En cualquiera de los idiomas en que es Urbanization has not diminished poverty in Latin March/25/2010 Janeiro, de Urban Forum, Rio 5th U.N. World at the UN-Habitat, publicada esta Agenda: catalán, castellano, America. The number of poor has significantly in- portugués, inglés o italiano. creased in the last decades. In 1970, there were 41 million poor people in the cities of the region, 25% Premio: 5OO euros. El jurado lo podrá declarar of the population. In 2007 there were 127 million desierto, pero también podrá conceder uno o urban poor, 29% of the urban population. The rural más accésits de 100 euros. La decisión del ju- poor in Brazil make up 50.1% of the population. rado se hará pública el 1 de noviembre de 2011 In Columbia it is 50.5%, in Mexico it is 40.1%, and en: latinoamericana.org/2012/premios y en: in Peru it is 69.3%. The exception is Chile, with an llatinoamericana.org ❑ index of rural poverty of 12.3%. ❑ 21 Panorama of Religions in the World 1910-2010 I. SEEING Franz Damen Belgium - Bolivia On the occasion of the centenary of the First World Missionary Conference (Edinburg 1910), the data and analysis of the panorama of religions were brought up to date and published in 2000 1. The following analysis complements them 2.

1. The religions of the World In the twentieth century, world religions have been affected by considerable changes. Among these In the following table the statistics on members can be included: of the major religions of the world in 1910 are shown - The massive conversion of members of ethnic in comparison with those of 2010, including their per- and indigenous religions to universal religions espe- centages with respect to the total world population. cially to Christianity (in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin The last two columns show the average annual growth America) and to Islam (in North Africa and Western of these religions during the last century (1910-2010) Asia). (*) and above all during the last decade (2000-2010) - An explosion of unbelief (agnostic and atheist)

(**). throughout the world, especially under Communist re- Renshaw by Richard Translated gimes and under the influence of secularism in Europe Demography of the Religions of the World and North America. - Birth, as a traditional determining factor in the (in millions) 1910 2010 * ** growth and decline of religions, has been giving way World population 1759 (100%) 6096 (100%) 1.38 1.21 to factors of conversion and defection. Christians 612 (34.8%) 2292 (33.2%) 1.33 1.35 - Globalization and planetary migration have cre- Muslims 220 (12.6%) 1549 (22.4%) 1.97 1.82 ated a large diversity both among religions and within these same religions. In general, the great religions Hindus 223 (12.7%) 948 (13.7%) 1.46 1.46 seem to be relatively stable. The religious panorama Agnostics 3.36 (0.2%) 639 (9.3%) 5.39 -0.36 seen today is less monolithic than in 1910. In the Buddhists 138 (7.8%) 468 (6.8%) 1.23 1.25 past century, Islam has stood out as having the great- Chinese Popular Rel. 392 (22.3%) 458 (5.6%) 0.16 0.85 est world growth, especially in Africa and Asia. On the Indigenous Religions 135 (7.7%) 261 (3.8%) 0.66 1.21 other hand, the relative presence of ethnic and indigenous religions that were the majority religions in Atheists 0.24 (0.0%) 138 (2.0%) 6.55 -0.09 Africa and Melanesia in 1910 were cut in half in favor New Religions 6.86 (0.4%) 64.4 (0.9%) 2.26 0.46 of Christianity and Islam. Jews 13.1 (0.7%) 14.6 (0.2%) 0.10 0.61 The factor that, at the beginning and middle of Spiritists 0.32 (0.0%) 13.9 (0.2) 3.84 1.15 the twentieth century, had largely encouraged the explosive world growth of unbelief and atheism was World population is currently growing 1.21% per Communism (the Russian and Chinese revolutions). year. A large majority (88.7%) of the world popula- In the last 100 years, world Christianity has suffered tion claims to be religious. During the last century, a relatively slight decrease, while a profound dis- Christianity and Hinduism as well as Buddhism have placement was observed in its ethnic and linguistic maintained their relative presence among the world composition. The notable decrease happened in the population. On the other hand, Islam has showed a Northwest part of the world and in central Asia but strong growth. was compensated by strong growth in the world of 1. BARRETT, D.B.; KURIAN, G.T., JOHNSON, T.M., World Christian Encyclopedia, Oxford University Press, Oxford 22001, 2 vols. 2 Sources: JOHNSON, T.M.; ROSS, K.R. (orgs.), Atlas of Global Christianity: 1910–2010, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2009, 361 p.; Status of Global Mission, 2010, in Context of 20th and 21st Centuries, in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 34/1 (2010) 36. 22 the South. While in 1910, 96% of all Christians lived At first glance, the religious demography of Latin in Europe and North America, in 2010 more than 60% America has not changed much in the course of the live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Apart from a last century. Christianity has largely maintained its notable growth in Asia, Christianity saw a phenom- traditional presence as an almost hegemonic religion. enal growth in central Africa from 1.1% to 81.7% of At the same time, although they have expanded the population. At the same time, the small Christian greatly, the other religious movements and religions minorities in populated countries like China and In- continue to be in a minority position. dia, in fact, represent an important part of the world In Latin America, the number of agnostics and population. Like other world religions, they have atheists has greatly increased in the last century. diversified considerably in the last 100 years. Spiritism had a new momentum, especially in Brazil. The statistical data presented do not tell us about Unexpectedly, the presence of Jews grew after the the rhythm and real fluctuations that have affected Holocaust. Among the new religions, the Baha’i faith growth or decrease of world religions during the last stands out as the religion with the most rapid growth century. However, the data covering the last decade on the continent. (2000-2010) give us some idea of the situation in On the other hand, the exceptional case of indig- which we find ourselves today. enous religions is striking. They were already a small Comparing average growth—its proportional annu- minority and declined much more to the advantage of al indices—in the last decade (2000-2010) with those Catholicism and Protestantism. of the period from 1910-2010, one can already see a A comparison of the average statistics of 2000- notable decrease in the growth of the world popula- 2010 with those of 1910-2010 reveal that, at the tion. In this context, the great religions seem to hold beginning of the 21st century, there was a remark- up well and even improve their rhythm of growth. At able decrease of 37.5% in the average growth of the the same time, the ethnic religions (popular Chinese population of the subcontinent. Only Christianity has religion and indigenous religions) reveal a clear resur- maintained its rhythm of “biological” growth.” The gence, and Judaism has managed to be restored. On other religions, as also agnostics and atheists, have the other hand, both the new religions and spiritism, suffered a considerable relative setback. In compari- and above all agnostics and atheists suffered great son, during this decade and in contrast with what losses in the last decade. happened in the 20th century, indigenous religions have been showing an explosive growth. 2. The religions in Latin America 3. Christianity in Latin America

Demography of Religions in Latin America Demography of Christianity in Latin America (in millions) 1910 2010 * ** (in millions) 1910 2010 * ** Population of LA 78.2 (100%) 593 (100%) 2.05 1.28 Population of Latin America 78.2 593.69 2.05 1.28 Christians 74 (95.2%) 549 (92.5%) 2.02 1.27 Christians 74.4 549 2.02 1.27 Agnostics 0.446 (0.6%) 17.1 (2.9%) 3.72 1.38 Catholics 70.6 478 1.93 0.78 Sspiritists 0.31 (0.4%) 13.6 (2.3%) 3.85 1.19 Protestants 1.09 57.1 4.04 2.52 Indigenous Religs. 2.72 (3.5%) 3.7 (0.6%) 0.31 1.12 Anglicasn 0.8 0.89 0.11 0.50 Atheists 0.012 (0%) 2.9 (0.5%) 5.6 1.43 Independent Churches 0.034 41.08 7.37 1.76 Muslims 0.067 (0.1%) 1.86 (0.3%) 3.37 1.19 Orthodox 0.008 1.06 4.99 2.38 New Religions 0.005 (0.0%) 1.83 (0.3%) 6.08 2.26 Marginal Christians 0.004 0.011 8.13 2.66 Jews 0,.029 (0.0%) 0.93 (0.2%) 3.52 0.26 Buddhists 0.007 (0.0%) 0.80 (0.1%) 4.84 1.76 Between 1910 and 2010 Christianity maintained Hindus 0.186 (0.2%) 0.78 (0.1%) 1.44 0.43 its overall percentage in Latin America. Catholicism 23 continues to keep its dominant position. At the same time, there have been changes to the L.A.: The Most Unequal continent internal composition of Latin American Christianity. The Richest 20% Retain 57% of the Wealth Protestants (above all Pentecostals and Evangelicals) Inequality between the rich and the poor in and independent churches have come to occupy con- Latin America has increased in recent years. Today, siderable space. the richest 20% enjoy 56.9% of resources, while the But, in spite of the growth and vitality of the poorest 20% receive just 3.5%, which makes it the charismatic movement, Catholicism has not man- most unequal region in the world. aged to maintain its relative growth. Nor have the “The country with the least inequality in income independent churches, the Orthodox and the marin Latin America has more inequality than any coun- ginal Christians managed to assure their “biological” try of the Organization for Economic Cooperation growth. and Development (OECD) or any country of Eastern Europe,” the document signals. Demography of Christianity in Latin America by Regions Brazil is the least equal country, given that the Christians in: 1910 2010 * ** richest 10% capture more than half (50.6%) of in- Latin America 74.7 (95.2%) 548 (92.5%) 2.02 1.27 come, compared with the 0.8% that the poorest 10% of the population receive. Caribbean 7.9 (97.7%) 35.3 (83.6%) 1.5 1.18 Mexico is the second most unequal country, given Central America 20.5 (99.0%) 147 (95.5) 1.99 1.24 that the richest tenth of the population receives South America 45.9 (93.1%) 366 (92.1%) 2.1 1.3 42.2% of income, compared with the 1.3% that the poorest tenth receive. In the 20th century, Christianity became more In Argentina, in third place, 41.7% of income is differentiated in the various regions of Latin America. obtained by the highest portion of society in contrast It is in the Caribbean region that Christianity grew to the 1.1% of income that the least favored receive. the least. The official recognition of Voodoo religion In Venezuela, in fourth place, the richest 10% in Haiti favored its notable growth. Cuba promoted collect 36.8% of money and the richest 30% control the growth of agnosticism and atheism, but in the 65.1% of resources, while the poorest 10% are obli- last decade its political regime also allowed a notable gated to survive on barely 0.9%. resurgence of Christianity, especially of Catholicism In Columbia, the richest 10% obtain 49.1% of and Protestantism. income, in contrast with the 0.9% that the poorest As in the Caribbean, so also in Central America, have. In Chile, the number is 42.5% in comparison massive migration, both internal and external, was with 1.5%. an important factor for the internal diversification of The most equal countries of the region are Ni- Christianity. caragua, Panama, and Paraguay, although even in Christianity stood up better in South America. these three, the differences between the rich and Nevertheless, there was a dramatic decrease of indig- poor are abysmal, since the 10% most rich consume enous religions (from 5.1% of the population in 1910 more than 40% of resources. to 0.6% in 2010). Urbanization has not diminished poverty in Latin In Central and South America, the relative demo- America. The number of poor has significantly in- March/25/2010 Janeiro, de Urban Forum, Rio 5th U.N. World at the UN-Habitat, graphic presence of Christianity changed very little, creased in the last decades. In 1970, there were 41 while at the same time significant internal changes million poor people in the cities of the region, 25% happened through the impressive growth of Prot- of the population. In 2007 there were 127 million estant, independent and marginal churches and in urban poor, 29% of the urban population. The rural Catholicism through the charismatic movement. Uru- poor in Brazil make up 50.1% of the population. guay, with its tradition of agnosticism and atheism, In Columbia it is 50.5%, in Mexico it is 40.1%, and continued to be the least Christian country in Latin in Peru it is 69.3%. The exception is Chile, with an America. q index of rural poverty of 12.3%. q 24 Religions and Birth Rates Religions and Violence Data from Google, Le Monde Diplomatique and atrio.org Still Today Google, under the heading of “Birth Rates in the Associated Press and Efe, 03/08/2010 World,” offers some striking statistics. In central Af- rica there is an index of between 40 and 50 births for A new wave of interreligious hatred in Nigeria has every 1,000 inhabitants; at the opposite pole, Europe left 500 dead. According to local authorities, about has about 10 births for 1,000 inhabitants. For its part, 500 persons from three villages, with a mostly Chris- Le Monde Diplomatique, in a long study entitled “The tian population, have been assassinated by assailants Myth of Conquering Islam” published in January, 2010, with machetes in an attack that is interpreted as a presents surprising data about the birth rate in Muslim reprisal for the assaults that took place in the same countries in the North of Africa and in the Middle East. area less than two months ago and that also left 236 In these countries, taken together, the birth rate has dead. On this occasion, it is Muslim pastors from the declined between 1975 and 2005 from a figure of 6.8 Fulani culture who attacked Christian settlements. At children per woman to 3.7 (in their fertility period the beginning of the year, the violence started with

Translated by Richard Renshaw by Richard Translated between 15 and 49). Here are the data from some of Christians. these countries: Morocco, from 7.3 to 2.4; Algeria from Once again, violence has taken place in Jos, a 8.4 to 2.6; Saudi Arabia from 6.5 to 3.6; Tunisia and city situated in the center of the country, where the Iran from 7.3 to 2. Muslim North meets the Christian South. These two The speed of this decline is surprising. Europe communities have been in conflict throughout the passed from an average of nearly 6 children to the history of the country, which gained its independence current figure of 2 over 40 years, between the 50s and in 1960. 90s; the Arab countries did the same over 30 years and According to the declarations of eye-witnesses the decline continues. The lack of influence of religious gathered by various information agencies, most of the faith on the birth rate is surprising. For example, in victims are “women and children.” “We have seen that Iran where in spite of a theocratic regime and the those who are assassinated are the most defenseless, preaching of the Ayatollahs in favor of birth, the rate like children and old people: those who can’t flee,” continues to decline. From 6.8 children per woman in declared Mala Lipdo from the Christian NGO, Stefanos 1985, right in the middle of the Islamic Revolution, it Foundation, to France Press. The attacks on people has today reached 2 children per woman. have been brutal and bloody. According to witnesses, Even more curious is the case of Lebanon. A Muslim and Christian country, the birthrate has declined more some of the victims were caught with fishing nets and among Muslims than among the Maronites, who are animal traps in order, later, to be knifed to death. In Catholic. From a lay-agnostic point of view, Le Monde the events of January, the witnesses say that many of Diplomatique points out that the decline in the birth the victims were buried alive in water wells. rate is in direct relationship, not with the level of The tensions between Christian and Muslim Ni- religiosity, but with the level of literacy and modern- gerians are also palpable in the government. During ization in each country. For example, in Libya, where several months of uncertainty and skirmishes in the tribal organization remains alive, the birth rate has upper echelons, the President of Nigeria, Jonathan not declined and in Yemen, a very underdeveloped and Goodluck (a Christian) was authorized to replace tem- poor country, it also remains high, while in the other porarily the convalescing Umaru Yar’Adua, (a Muslim), countries of the Arabian peninsula the rate is almost who had been hospitalized since November, 2009. at the European level. This same factor, namely the Christians and Muslims take turns at the Presidency cultural and technical underdevelopment, explains the of the country according to a tacit agreement. The high level of birth rate that persists in Central Africa. conflicts that had protagonists among Christians and Le Monde Diplomatique suggests that Muslim religion Muslims in Nigeria have taken the lives of 12,000 is setting aside communitarian values and is opting for people since 1999 when the Sharia, or Islamic law, values with an individualistic character. was implanted in 12 Northern states of the country. q 25 The map of Religious Unbelief in the world The Map of disbelief Cardenal Paul Poupard Former President of Pontifical Council for Culture In an interview granted to zenit.org, Cardinal Poupard, who was the man chosen by John Paul II for Culture, traces “the map of religious unbelief in the world,” highlighting the most remarka- ble features of each region or country. Although the data are changing rapidly, we have here the “map” from an official point of view, that of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Religious unbelief isn’t uncommon anymore, says pean origin and its influence is felt in the large cities. the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. In a country such as South Africa there are more “Unbelief is no longer a phenomenon reduced to than 6,000 different churches. It is difficult, therefo- a few individuals but a mass phenomenon,” warns re, to speak of unbelief. Cardinal Paul Poupard. It is manifested especially “in For North America, in the United States the countries where a secular cultural model prevails,” he self-confessed atheists are 1%, while those with “no adds. In an interview with ZENIT, the French cardinal church” are 15%. The majority of American citizens sketched a map of religious unbelief in the world, a pray, while only 1% state that they never pray. problem analyzed by the culture council during its In Latin America, Cuba is the only country where assembly in the Vatican. there is still an officially atheist regime in power. It - Aren’t many sociologists talking about a “return is significant that after 40 years of atheist education, to the sacred”? 86% of Cubans say they are believers, although only - Cardinal Poupard: Many talk about a “return of 15% go to Church.

the sacred” without specifying that this is rather the Another singular case is Mexico, where for 70 www.zenit.org/article-10619?l=english emergence of a new weak religiosity, without referen- years a regime governed that was controlled by Ma- ce to a personal God, something more emotional than sonic groups of anti-clerical orientation. Yet, 90% of doctrinal. Mexicans are Catholics and 100% are devoted to the We are witnessing the de-personalization of God. Virgin of Guadalupe. This gives an idea of the pro- This new religiosity does not coincide with a return to found roots of popular religiosity. the faith and it is a real challenge for Christianity. In Central America, popular piety resists the - What relation does this religiosity have with sirens of the secularized model. atheism? In Brazil, where the greatest number of Catholics - Militant atheism is receding in the world. But in the world reside, we are witnessing the move of there is a phenomenon of practical unbelief which is believers from the Catholic Church to other Christian growing in cultural realms penetrated by secularism. groups. In the ‘50s, Catholics were 93.5%; today they It is a cultural form that I would describe as “neo- are 73.8%. In the same period, the Christian churches paganism,” in which religion is an idolatry of material have grown to 15% from 0.5%. goods, a vague religious feeling that is rather pan- In Argentina, 4% of the population declares itself theistic, which is at ease with cosmological theories, atheist and 12% agnostic. such as those of New Age. In Asia, the situation is altogether different. As Evidently, it is necessary to reflect on this pheno- an Asian bishop has commented: “There is no phenomenon, which is typical of the secularized cultures of menon of unbelief because there is no belief.” the West. In Japan, for example, there is a real supermarket - What are the results of the study made by the of religions. If we add up the number of Shintoists, assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture? Taoists, Buddhists and Christians, we reach a percen- - The situations vary from country to country, from tage of 125% of the population, as many say they continent to continent. follow several religions. In Africa, unbelief affects the population of Euro- In the Philippines, the only country in Asia with 26 a large Christian majority, with 82.9% Catholics and people say they are atheists. But the majority of the 4.57% Muslims, only 0.3% leave blank the box in the population live their religion in their own way. questionnaire on religion. In the Czech Republic, half the population de- South Korea is an interesting country, with the clares itself atheist or without religious confession, largest number of conversions to Catholicism. while Slovakia is Catholic in the majority. - But where is the phenomenon of unbelief mani- - In terms of statistics, what can be said about the fested? Muslim countries? - Painful news comes from Europe, with notable In countries of Muslim majority there is no relia- differences between the Mediterranean area, the cen- ble data because if one is not a believer, one cannot ter and the north. declare it. This is the reason why all the numbers are In Italy, 4% declare themselves atheist and 14% false. indifferent. The majority are believers, but only parti- - After tracing this map, what conclusions do you cipate every now and then in the life of the Church. draw? In Spain, a process of cultural and religious pulve- - Militant atheism is receding, but there is a drop rization is taking place, supported by governments of in active membership in the Church. Unbelief is not Socialist culture. growing in the world, with the exception of the coun- In Central Europe we come across the three tries where the secularized cultural model prevails. countries with the highest number of persons without Religious indifference is growing in the form of religion: Belgium with 37%, France with 43%, and the practical atheism. From the pastoral point of view, Netherlands with 54%. what is most worrying is that atheism and unbelief France is the country with the greatest number of is growing among women. For millenniums, the faith atheists: 14%. In this case I am tempted to make a was transmitted in the family by mothers, while now comparison with the end of the Roman Empire. we are witnessing a break. In the United Kingdom, 77% of the population Moreover, there is a new fact: the growth of those declares itself Christian. The Anglicans are in the ma- who are indifferent, that is, men and women who jority, but the number of Catholics who go to Church believe without belonging and belong without prac- is higher than that of the Anglicans in absolute num- ticing. bers. In Great Britain, 14% say they have no religion. There is an increase in those who say they are In the Scandinavian countries -- Iceland, Den- religious but do not go to Church, and who believe mark, Sweden and Norway -- Catholics are a growing in a whole series of practices, which border on the minority thanks to the arrival of new immigrants from magical. the Philippines and Korea. - Given this situation, are there signs of hope for In Denmark, those with no religion are 11%, the Catholic Church? 11.6% in Norway, and 12.7% in Finland. In these Cardinal Poupard: Of course, I point out especially countries, on one hand there is secularization, and on the new religious movements: Neocatechumenals, Fo- the other, the worship of nature, of pagan influence, colarini, Communion and Liberation, Charismatic Re- which regards nature as sacred. newal. For a quarter of a century we have seen them In Germany, a distinction must be made between expand numerically and geographically. I meet them the East and West. Sixty percent in the former repu- everywhere in the world, and they have also grown in blic of the East say they have no religion, while in the spiritual intensity and depth. West this percentage is 15%, found especially in large It is a reaction of life inspired by the Holy Spirit cities. to respond to the secularized culture. At a time when In Poland, there are very few nonbelievers. But there seems to be a dissolution, they show a strong one can say that Marxist materialism is being replaced sense of aggregation and belonging, witnessing a by consumerist materialism and this is the greatest strong religiosity rooted in the ecclesial and personal problem. encounter with Christ: in the sacraments, in prayer, in In Hungary, of 10 million inhabitants, only 887 the liturgy, in the celebration of Mass. q 27 Religion in Europe and in Latin America From a Swiss Plebiscite Regarding the construction of Minarets Paulo Suess São Paulo, Brazil Switzerland is famous for the secret of its banks mystery. To speak of violence and intolerance, the Euro- and for the precision of its clocks. Recently, with its pean Christian of whatever denomination doesn’t need 7.7 million inhabitants, it has garnered worldwide to peer into in the murky waters of other religions. attention not for some bank scandal or for its clocks These minarets are indicative of changes in Euro- being slow, but rather for a plebiscite regarding the pean societies due to the immigration of those who construction of minarets (11/29/2009). A minaret is arrive from other cultures and regions in search of the tower of the mosque, from which the caller sum- employment, and who are inclined to integrate into a mons the faithful Muslims to prayer. The great majority welcoming society, without cultural or religious assimi- of the nearly 350,000 Swiss Muslims are emigrants from lation. To invite workers or permit immigration into the by Stacy Kilb Translated the old Yugoslavia and from Turkey, and, of the more European Union is not the same as importing machines. than 100 mosques that there are in Switzerland, only People immigrate with their cultures and religions, four have minarets. That being said, 57.7% of voters which are visible, and they are permitted to live their were in favor of a prohibition on the construction of identity. more minarets. Switzerland is a small European country, and Europe Surveys have shown that in other European coun- is a small region on the planet Earth. But, in a globali- tries the result of this vote would have been similar. zed society, ideas, economies, and processes of organi- Which means that what occurred in Switzerland was not zation have lost their territoriality. The North-Atlantic an isolated incident. Ignorance and intolerance, which world continues to dominate economies and ideologies confuse Islam with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, result in worldwide. The Catholic Church monitors its churches in a fear of the “Islamization” of a country, along with Asia, Africa, and Latin America according to European worries about the loss of cultural identity and of the cultural standards. This practice has produced a theo- separation of church and state. For different motives, logical, ministerial, and administrative homogeneity of the Swiss government, the Vatican, the Evangelical seminaries, parishes, and liturgies. At the same time, churches, the Catholic bishops, sectors of the general on some level considered secondary, there exist cultural population, and some left-wing political parties were in niches of great diversity and friendly inter-religious favor of the construction of new minarets. Their efforts relations. They are not the result of the exploitation of were in vain. The political, religious, and civil institu- the labor of migrants, but come from the same colonial tions, with their politically correct opinions, have lost coexistence which produced a permanent exchange some connection with the people. between indigenous, Afro-American, and Christian Facing Islam and other non-Christian religions, the religions. The new religions and confessional groups of signals given by the dominant sector of the Catholic migrants, along with secularization and urbanization, Church have almost always been ambivalent. We still have deconstructed the image of the homogeneity of remember the polemical address of Benedict XVI in the Catholic continent. Regensburg University (9/12/2006). We also recall the Today, in the majority of Latin American countries, opening discourse of the 5th General Conference of CE- with their four million Muslims, or in Brazil, with its LAM (the Latin American Bishops Council), in which the million, it would be impossible to consider a victorious Pope claimed that the conquest of America brought the vote against the construction of minarets or something indigenous to an “unknown God” and that the bringing similar. Latin American society has incorporated as a of the Gospel “did not assume, at any time, an aliena- constitutional habit of life the “bob and weave” which tion of pre-Columbian cultures, nor was it the imposi- is a form of light tolerance, which does not pass jud- tion of a foreign culture.” In both cases, to quell the gment over the truth or untruth of the tolerated doc- outcry this provoked, there was not enough water to trine. The difference with Switzerland is in the greater baptize the few neophytes that still wanted to join the liberality of the Latin American population, who inhe- 28 rited the alchemy of survival from colonized indigenous desks and in the offices of public servants. According and African-Americans peoples. Survival is a good moti- to this proposal, the judge may place a statue of the ve for tolerance by subordinates. Virgin of Aparecida on his work desk, but may not allow Where there is human life, there are symbols. How an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe or a cross to adorn many religious symbols can a secular society support the Tribunal of Justice. without abandoning this particular state of being, The processes of cultural rationalization have pro- which in a plural society is something positive, because duced a disenchantment of the world (Max Weber) and it guarantees peace among religions, this peace which the functional differentiation of old family unity into threatens dominant faiths? The tendency of the politi- the spheres of politics, economics, and rights, by the cal culture of lay and secular Europe points toward the processes of work and organization. Religion has be- progressive prohibition of religious symbols. The name come one of these spheres, one among others, losing of “God” doesn’t appear in the Constitution of the Eu- its dominance (Emile Durkheim). The two processes, ropean Union, and only appears in five Constitutions of rationalization as disenchantment, and differentiation its 27 member countries. By judicial order, crosses and into separate functional spheres, have unceremoniously religious images have vanished from schools and public tossed religion from its throne. buildings in the majority of countries. In pluri-cultural In modern European and Latin American societies, and multi-religious countries, can a crucifix on the the collectively shared group of values has been dimi- wall of a school or a public building be considered as nished, but a nucleus of fundamental values is neces- favoring one religion over another? Can the wearing of sary in order to guarantee the social integration of all the Muslim veil be prohibited for Muslim public school citizens. Thus, religions have made a resurgence in new teachers? configurations in the post-secular world. Religions have With globalization, these questions have also arri- a future, because their transcendence (their proper ved on the doorstep of Latin America. In Brazil, the sphere) rises above the instinctual dimension and is question of statutes governing religious symbols has an essential quality of the human being. They have a emerged not as the result of a battle between minarets future because, in their entirety, in a world of contin- and the towers of cathedrals, but between religion gencies, relativism, and total pleasure, they are capable itself and secularism, between public and private life. not only of saying – along with Freud and Lacan – that The National Council of Justice, in its May 29, 2009 the limitation of pleasure grounds human society, but session, rejected four petitions to remove religious also of translating this limitation into “compensatio- symbols from the buildings of the Judiciary. The Coun- ns,” through images of hope, signs of justice, and ac- cil alleged that the crucifixes and other objects are tions of solidarity. symbols of Brazilian culture and do not interfere in “Future” and “limitation” point to new forms of the impartiality of Justice. Already the third National churches and ecclesiastical organizations, capable of Human Rights Program, signed by President Lula on embracing otherness without losing their own iden- December 21, 2009, has sought both “mechanisms to tities. The future will not come from limitations on assure the free exercise of diverse religious practices” minarets or Third World theologies. It will come with and to impede “the ostentation of religious symbols the elimination of the scandal of intolerance and the in public establishments of the Union.” The State of sorrows of hunger. For this, we must unite ourselves in Brazil may not have an official religion, but neither is a “productive chain” as builders of solidarity and peace, it atheistic, as one can deduce from the preamble of its with the rebellious and lucid sectors of Switzerland, of Constitution, which uninhibitedly invokes the protec- the Vatican, and of the world. Whoever is incapable of tion of God. It is difficult to distinguish between public recognizing the theological state of the Latin American life and private religion, as shown by the proposal of continent will also be unable to recognize the hand of the Regional Attorney General of Citizens’ Rights in God in the religion of the Other and in the construction July of 2009, which proposes the removal of religious of their minarets. Citizens who are incapable of accep- symbols from easily accessible sites or those which can ting the minarets of the Muslim faithful will one day be garner public attention, in federal public locations in obliged to accept the rifles of the unfaithful. the State of Sao Paulo, but still allowing them on the q 29 Looking Towards 2050 Are there too many of us? Worries about the planet and the poor Verónica Calderón São Paulo, Brazil

Overpopulation life. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions would The severity of the food crisis, the surprising make it impossible to live on the planet in 2050.” increase in the population of the least developed countries, and the effects of climate change are some Who will occupy the Earth then? The population in reasons to repeat the same phrase: “There are too the 49 poorest countries in the world will double, 840 many of us.” And we will be more. In 2012, the global million to 1.7 billion people, according to the report population will reach 7 billion people. In 2050, Earth Perspectives on World Population, released in 2008, will be home to 9.1 billion. The great majority of new and developed by the Research Division on Demogra- residents will live in poor countries. According to UN phy and World Population of the United Nations. estimates, in 2050, the Spanish population, for example, will be practically equal to its 2009 size: about Developed countries, by contrast, will not suf- 42.8 million people, very far away from the expected fer a significant change in their populations: 1.23 growth for countries like Niger, Somalia, and Uganda, billion in 2009, and 1.28 million in 2050. Japan, whose populations will grow by 150% over the next Georgia, Russia, and Germany will even lose 10% of 40 years. The populations in developed countries will their population. The British scientist and writer Fred remain virtually the same and in some even decline. Pearce believes that the problem is not how many of In contrast, the world’s poorest nations will have an us there are, but in how we share our resources. “It accelerated growth. Of the 2.4 billion additional peo- is clear that the problem is excessive consumption in ple there will be by 2050, 98% will live in poor coun- developed countries and not overpopulation in the tries. Are there sufficient resources and space for all? poorest,” he says.

Birth rates have fallen by 50% in the last 30 years, and they are expected to be reduced further. Carbon dioxide emissions Even in the poorest countries in the world, the birth The consumption of a person in the U.S. emits 20 rate will be halved. The forecasts of the UN agree that tons of carbon dioxide every year, the equivalent of the trend will continue. In 2050, it is estimated that two Europeans, four Chinese, ten Indians or 20 Afri- global fertility will be only 1.85 children per woman. cans. 80% of the population will pay the economic Without contraception, world population would grow and environmental impact of the consumption of to the 11 billion in 2050. Birth control has been es- 20%. Stephen Pacala, director of the Environmental sential. But it is not the only solution by a longshot. Institute of Princeton University has calculated that the 500,000 richest inhabitants of the world--about For over 200 years, the warning was already ex- 0.7% of the current population--are responsible for plicit: the Englishman Thomas Malthus warned in his 50% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. And the famous “An Essay on the Principle of Population” that situation will worsen in coming years. “The challenge natural resources would be insufficient to meet the is, in fact, to ensure that resources are shared out world’s population. Researcher Rosamund McDougall, more equitably. The effects on the environment are deputy director of the NGO Optimum Population Trust, extremely difficult to reverse through birth rates,” warns that “more than 9 billion people would have warns Pearce. “Even if we were to reduce fertility to zero in the world, emissions of greenhouse gases a terrible impact on Earth, not only in the quality of Spain, http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Somos/demasiados/elpepusoc/20091106elpepisoc_1/Tes Madrid, El PaÌs, 30 should be lowered at least 50% by mid-century,” he their finances,” the report notes. The FAO also notes explains. that in order to fight hunger, the world must produce 70% more food in 2050 than at present.

Hunger The challenge is not new. The so-called “green In addition to the effects of climate change, the revolution” succeeded in doubling the production least developed countries are facing starvation, the of food between 1960 and 1990. And now, 60% of direct or indirect cause of 58% of all deaths in the land is still fertile in the world. But what guarantees world according to a UN study published in 2004. The sustainable development in poor countries over the World Resources Institute warned recently that in next years? Pearce and Pacala agree that a good start 2050 another 25 million malnourished children in the is investment. One report of the British Ministry of world will be added to the 150 million who are hungry Development estimated in 2008 that to reduce world today. Poverty levels continue to rise: between 1981 hunger, it would be required to invest at least 900 and 2001, the number of people living on less than a million pounds ($1.504 billion dollars) to ensure dollar a day in sub-Saharan Africa doubled from 164 development and technologies necessary to encourage million to 316 million. Over the next 40 years, two agriculture in the poorest countries. thirds of the world population will live in developing countries. Urgency of effective measures The fact is that today, one billion people (one FAO’s budget in 2008 totaled about 870 million. sixth of the world population) suffer hunger. In 2050, In 2009 it rose slightly to 930 million dollars. Com- it will be 1.7 billion, 18% of the projected population paring this figure with the 700 billion dollars which by then. In addition to the deteriorating environmen- the U.S. government spent to avoid the bankruptcy of tal, conflicts and poor development cause food short- investment bank Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac and Fannie ages. African farmers employ the equivalent of 1% of Mae mortgage companies, and the insurer AIG in Sep- the fertilizer a farmer in a rich country uses. While tember of 2008, the worldwide budget dedicated to people in poor countries consume a diet based on combating hunger represents only 2% of this amount. vegetables, the rich consume food that is fed on vegetables. To produce a kilo of meat, at least 10 kilos The leaders at the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh of grass are necessary. An average American eats 120 (September 2009) agreed to allocate about 2 billion kilos of meat per year, while in developing countries, dollars in aid to combat world hunger, but a study the average is 28 kilos. published by the International Research Institute for Agricultural Policy and released that October notes “Cooperation would make a significant difference,” that it would be insufficient: “It takes at least about argues Stephen Pacala. “Famines are due, in the ma- 7 billion dollars a year for agricultural research and jority of cases, to the poor development of countries infrastructure improvements in rural countries. By and because production has been insufficient,” he continuing a policy that prioritizes profits, the conse- says. The lack of technologies being deployed in less quences will be disastrous,” warns Gerard Nelson, one developed countries and the effects of the global of the authors of the authors the report. economic crisis have worsened circumstances. The priority on solving hunger, a serious effect of The Food and Agriculture Organization of the the poor distribution of resources in the world, is not United Nations (FAO) warned in 2008 that annual new. Asked in an interview in 1972 with Dick Cavett expenditure on imported foodstuffs in the poorest on the effects of overpopulation, John Lennon was countries could be four times more than in 2000. clear in defining the first step: “We have enough food “For the poorest consumers who spend 60% of their and money to feed everyone. There is enough space, income on food, the increase means a brutal blow to and some can even go to the moon.” q 31 Anthological Texts on religion

The word «God»... Among the most disquieting aspects of the “...is the most heavy-laden of all human words. modern world is its general and growing state of None has become so soiled, so mutilated. Just for dissatisfaction in religious matters...There is no this reason I may not abandon it. Generations of present sign anywhere of Faith that is expanding; men have laid the burden of their anxious lives there are only here and there, creeds that at the upon this word and weighed it to the ground; it best are holding their own, where they are not lies in the dust and bears their whole burden. The positively retrogressing. This is not because the races of man with their religious factions have torn world is growing colder: never has it generated the word to pieces; they have killed for it and died more psychic warmth! Nor is it because Christianity for it, and it bears their finger-marks and their has lost anything of its absolute power to attract: blood. Where might I find a word like it to describe on the contrary, everything I am about to say goes the highest! If I took the purest, most sparkling to prove its extraordinary power of adaptability concept from the inner treasure-chamber of the and mastery. But the fact remains that for some philosophers, I could only capture thereby an un- obscure reason something has gone wrong between binding product of thought. I could not capture the Man and God as in these days He is represented to presence of Him whom the generations of men have Man. Man would seem to have no clear picture of honored and degraded with their awesome living the God he longs to worship. and dying. I do indeed mean Him whom the hell- tormented and heaven-storming generations of men P. Teilhard DE CHARDIN, The Future of Man mean.” M. BUBER, Eclipse of God

«The God in everyone, The God we all make, WHY DON’T YOU CHANGE GOD? The God we all seek, And who we will never find.» In order to change our lives Antonio MACHADO we have to change God. We have to change God in order to change the Church. “I am a deeply religious nonbeliever.... To change the World This is We have to change God. a somewhat new kind of religion.” Pedro CASALDÁLIGA Albert EINSTEIN

Perhaps “changing God”—demanded by our same Christian faith—is the most profound and ur- God is the silence of the universe, gent challenge for Christian churches in the greater and the human being is service of the Reign, of God’s Project. the cry that gives meaning to that silence. CASALDÁLIGA, Pedro, O macroecumenismo e a proclamação do Deus da vida, en TEIXEIRA (org), O diálogo inter-religioso José SARAMAGO como afirmação da vida, Paulinas, São Paulo 1997, pág. 35. 32 Religion is a feeling of the numinous, of the “totally other,” of the “mysterium tremendum et Religions speak with an absolute authority fascinans.” Rudolf OTTO. which they do not just express through words Religion hides the face of God. Martin BUBER. and concepts, doctrines and dogmas, but through symbols and prayers, rituals and celebration, in It is a system of beliefs and practices of a both rational and emotional forms. Religions pos- group of people that serves to address the ulti- sess the tools to mold the human existence not mate problems of human life. J.M. YINGER. just of an intellectual elite, but of wide segments It is the belief in spiritual beings E.B. TYLOR. of the population. It achieves this in an historically experienced form, culturally adequate, and Religion is what the individual does with one’s relevant to the individual. Religion cannot make solitude...Institutions, churches, rites, bibles, everything possible, but it can open up and give codes of conduct...are the adornments of religion, a “plus” in terms of human life. its passing forms. Alfred N. WHITEHEAD. • Religion succeeds in transmitting a more Religion is the presence in the world of profound dimension, an interpretive horizon something spiritually greater than the individual when faced with pain, injustice, guilt, and lack of human being... The goal of the human being is meaning. It also succeeds in transmitting a sense to look for communion with the presence that is of ultimate meaning in the face of death: a sense behind phenomena Arnold TOYNBEE. of meaning for human existence. Religion is an illusion. Sigmund FREUD. • Religion succeeds in guaranteeing the highest values, unconditional norms, the deepest Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, motivations, and the most sublime ideals: mean- the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the ing (why) and objectives (for what purpose) of spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of our responsibility. the people. Karl MARX. • Through symbols, rituals, experiences, and A religion is a unified system of beliefs and common objectives, religion succeeds in creat- practices relative to sacred things, that is to ing a homeland of confidence, faith, certainty, say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and self-esteem, shelter, and hope: a community and practices which unite into one single moral com- spiritual homeland. munity called a Church, all those who adhere to Hans KÜNG, Projeto de ética mundial, Paulinas, São Paulo them. Emile DURKHEIM. 2001, p. 81-82. Religion is a revolutionary desire, a psychoso- cial impulse to generate a new humanity. Aloysius PIERIS. Religion is one thing to the anthropologist, another to the sociologist, another to the psy- In the modern world, religion is a central, chologist (and again another to the next psy- perhaps the central, force that motivates and chologist!), another to the Marxist, another to the mobilizes people...What ultimately counts for mystic, another to the Zen Buddhist and yet an- people is not political ideology or economic inter- other to the Jew or Christian. As a result there is est. Faith and family, blood and belief, are what a great variety of religious theories of the nature people identify with and what they will fight and of religion. There is, consequently, no universally die for. accepted definition of religion, and quite possibly Samuel P. HUNTINGTON, Foreign Affairs, nov-dic 1993, 186ss there never will be. John HICK. 33 Religion... what are we talking about? Clarifying words II. JUDGING Latin American Agenda

The word “religion” has several meanings, quite different, which can be grouped into three levels: In the naive traditional mentality, religion always had a certain taboo character, sacred, as if touching 1) The ‘religions’ are systems of beliefs, doctrines, it were a touch of irreverence, or could lead to divine practices, and rites about what is considered sacred, retribution...Fortunately, it is no longer like this: the divine, or spiritual, often crystallized in institutions, human sciences and public opinion have helped us to and, as such, they are social and even political actors, lose that excessively reverent fear and we now deal with interests and functions of power. Each of these with the religious theme with ease and depth. institutional entireties is what we call “a religion,” the “religions.” It is important to emphasize the distinction be- 2) Religion is also the social fact of religion: the tween “religion” and “spirituality”: fact that human beings are capable of religiosity and have need of it is shown in the manifestations of this -Technically speaking, religion makes reference to religiosity, its cultural, historical, and political impact the institutional dimension of religions, their beliefs in society. All of this is also “religion” in society. and practices, their institutions...while 3) But religion is primarily an experience of the -Spirituality or spiritual life or spiritual experience person: human beings need a reason to live, and we refers to the personal and intimate religious life that cannot find it if we do not open our hearts in intimacy accompanies each person, in one manner or another, to the mystery, the sacred, the absolute value of love, and that can occur both within and outside of “reli- the ultimate Reality, the Divine...This spiritual experi- gions.” ence is true for every person, with infinite variations, whether inside, outside of, or even against religious It should be noted in passing that we would “institutions,” that is, the religions. It is the religious technically need to object to the world “spirituality” or spiritual experience, the capacity to perceive and because etymologically it is the opposite of material- come into relationship with the undefined reality that ity, corporality. This is obviously not the meaning it has been called the sacred, mystery, or absolute. It is has for us. We do not believe in a composite of two important to distinguish these three different levels things, but one unique reality, which is simultane- and bear them in mind. ously material, corporal, psychological, and spiritual. Spirituality is already a consecrated word that today In any case, all three levels show that religion is a no longer makes reference to its Greek origins (or we human fact, personal, social, and also institutional. Is forget them, deliberately). Spirituality is definitely the here in all societies and it affects our life much more profound dimension of the human being, the living than we think. out of meaning, the profound experience of reality, the We are not dealing with any taboo topic, nor with quality of deepening humanization. a field reserved for specialists, nor is it something that falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of institutions re- Renouncing this spirituality, undervaluing it, or ligious. Anyone sincerely interested in human welfare disregarding it by confusing it with “religion” and and fulfillment should pay attention to this human its institutions, rites, creeds, and dogmas would be a dimension as a social fact. grave error, a tremendous los for humanity. 34 The Anthropological Origin of Religion Clarifying words Eduardo Hoornaert Lauro de Freitas, Brazil

Anthropologists teach us that since our feels the presence of Yahweh in a soft breeze; appearance on planet Earth, human being observing the arrival of small birds in the arid have demonstrated the capacity to feel the desert, the Israelites exult: “Yahweh is send- presence of something that does not appear, ing us manna from heaven”; seeing a cloud that--in one form or another--is revealed. The of dust rise in the desert, they sense a new trembling of a plant alongside a path reveals message from Yahweh; in the trembling of the possibility of a cobra, a precious help in the horizon, the travelers in the desert seem life. It is one of the reasons for the success of to see paradise; suddenly, the donkey of the the human being in evolution. Our capacity prophet Balaam refuses to continue on the to feel the strange and mysterious opens new path and the prophet decides to abandon the pathways not just in the sense of preventing journey; in the middle of a banquet in the us from falling into danger (the bite of the palace, Nebuchadnezzar sees the fingers of cobra) but also to give sense to the confus- a mysterious hand writing on the plaster of ing tangle of events that we confront in life. the wall (Daniel 5:5); fleeing from Jerusalem Weaving things together coherently, based on after the defeat of Jesus, the disciples from connecting revealed events, we are able to Emmaus are surprised by the presence of a construct a sense of meaning for our lives. man who unexpectedly appeared on the road with them (Luke 24:13-35); at the gates of That is, the human organism is equipped Damascus, Paul suddenly can’t take one more with preliminary instruments to detect things step (Acts 9:1-22). before they are revealed, and is therefore capable of inserting these experiences into a Today is no different: someone drinking coherent global vision. This is the origin of a beer in a bar is surprised to see, painted religion according to anthropologists. on the wall, the penetrating eye of God; the sick person looks with fright at the cruel The Hebrew Bible is full of stories that angel carrying the scales which determine the demonstrate this human capacity of sensing chosen and the condemned in the Final Judg- something and giving a deeper meaning to ment, painted on the wall of the hospital run apparently ordinary facts. Noah, contemplat- by religious sisters. We could add many more ing a rainbow above the clouds (Genesis daily cases, if we pay attention. 9:13) sees a sign from Yahweh in this; on a hot afternoon, three strange visitors approach We human beings are religious by nature. the tent of Abraham in Mamre and he rec- Our religious nature is made manifest in many ognizes that they are bringing an important diverse ways, but, in any case, we have the message (Genesis 18:1-15); Moses suspects capacity to sense something more than what the presence of Yahweh in a burning bush; our five senses tell us about, although this further on, he senses the presence of Yahweh sense continues being mysterious, imprecise, behind the clouds that cover mount Sinai; and frequently enigmatic. sitting at the entrance of his refuge, Elijah q 35 God and religion José COMBLIN João Pessoa, Brazil

It is common doctrine and common view that that is inhumane. Christianity is a religion. Its own authority affirms For 2000 years, the Gospel has shown that it is clearly that the Church is essentially a religious a force for personal and social transformation. It has entity. It insists upon saying that the Church is a awakened freedom on both the personal and societal religious and not political entity, even if it has social levels. It has caused transformations of lifestyle. It doctrine, which does not justify any political doctrine. has fought against slavery, war, poverty, and econom- However, having a social doctrine is not common in ic domination. The Gospel points towards a different religions. future, rather than prolonging the past and thinking Christianity comes from Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus that some Golden Age has already passed. was Jewish, but all his actions and his words criti- But in the history of Christianity, the gospel has cized the official religion of his people, the religion been counterbalanced by religion. A Christian religion taught by priests, doctors, and his elders. Jesus broke was born that had all the characteristics of other with the religion of the Jews and did not teach any religions. Many times, the gospel was reduced to be- religious doctrine, did not found a religion, and did ing announced by a small minority of believers in not found any religious institution. After him, little by the midst of a mass of religious people who wanted little, the disciples set up a religious edifice that in to conserve the past and prevent changes for a more the early centuries remained very modest, and only human future. There were situations in which the in- grew when the Church was adopted as the imperial stitution Church fought against those who wished to religion of Rome. follow the evangelical inspiration. There were cases in Jesus came to proclaim a gospel. This gospel was which the gospel was being lived by people separated the proclamation of the Kingdom of God on this earth. from the Church: the Catholic religion seemed to be The Kingdom of God would be like a new creation, a the biggest obstacle in the search for a more humane reestablishment of humanity, free from the bondage world. Did not Gandhi said that it seemed strange of sin, free to form a world of peace and brotherhood that Christians were the least likely to understand the and sisterhood, where God himself would live. gospel? Religion is a set of institutions where human Religions may think that they have always ex- beings go to find God, to worship, pray, thank, isted and always remained the same. In fact, they all apologize...But Jesus said that there is no need to formed during centuries and evolved without recogniz- seek God, for God comes on his own initiative before ing their transformation, slowly and permanently. Only humans even start searching. And he stays with his Judaism and religions born of it can invoke historical people in order to help in any way he can. He calls all data on their founding. human beings to build a new world. This is a mega- The human being is a religious being. Religion politics, a global politics, a project of transforming always was at the center of culture and was the all social relations as well as the interior of the hu- source of the most beautiful cultural works. It is still man being. Rather than being a religion, Christianity an active source of culture, even if it is less so than is the announcement of a total change in humanity in the past. It was the soul of all cultures. The current in all aspects: personal, social, political, economic, crisis of secularization does not disprove that theory. and cultural. It comes not to destroy what exists--all The development of technical and scientific rational- cultural, political, and economic evolution. It comes ity has made humans devote more time and concerns to save what is good in the life of this world, and to to scientific, technical, and economic activities. They straighten out what deviates from this. It preserves have created a multitude of useful items that have and promotes what is humane and destroys everything led to a consumption which absorbs all resources. 36 They spend most of the time earning money to buy with football teams, social clubs such as the Rotary, everything that is offered. No time for religion, which and political parties, belonging to a religion helps is a free activity, and wasted time from an economic people situate themselves in an atomized society in perspective... which the economic system reduces human beings to This situation has negatively affected the large the condition of consumer. People say: “I am for team religious systems, which previously occupied a good Barcelona,” of such-and-such political party, or the part of the time, thoughts, and social relations of like. But they also say “I am Catholic, Lutheran, Pres- humanity. But religion has not disappeared. In the byterian, Jehovah’s Witness, spiritualist, etc.” This United States, there are 38,000 registered religious situates and gives an identity to people within their groups. In the large Brazilian cities, there are hun- society. dreds or thousands of groups although many are not All religions are human constructions, although registered. These religious groups are more frag- they may invoke a supernatural origin, a revelation by mentary, more simplified, usually for smaller groups, celestial beings. We can say that they arise from the without large system of doctrine, with a very small energy of God the Creator, but that also applies to the following, and almost without a religious institution. economy, art, social organization, and all that is hu- These are groups that form around charismatic people man. There is not a separate creation for religion. who offer a quick religious experience, accessible to Religions are conservative. They resist changes. everyone. No prolonged formation is required. They Their ideal is the stability of everything, in politics, offer a lot and require little. They often do not ask for social organization, economics, and culture. They a personal commitment. But they respond to needs are the last to accept changes in society. Their world felt by almost all humans. view is cyclical. They cannot understand the value Humans understand the meaning of their lives with of changes because they do not understand that the difficulty. They live in a world of mystery. Scientific future can be better than the past. explanations leave out the most important parts of When a religion totally dominates a country, it life. Religion explains the mystery of existence, the stays the same for centuries. Progress only happens mystery of the length of life, of birth and death. It when new social or cultural forces manage to tilt the explains how to relate to a very disconcerting world. balance against religious conservatism. The gods do Why are there disasters, droughts, floods, and earth- not support changes. Religions believe that changes quakes? The outside world seems simultaneously only bring chaos. friendly, useful, and dangerous. Human beings do What happened to the disciples who Jesus left not understand themselves: why all these emotions, without religion? In the early days, they were waiting fears, rivalries, utopias, all these desires, and all this for the imminent return of the Messiah in glory. Hope emotional life? What is it that dwells in our minds? substituted for religion. When they realized that the The sciences of religions, psychology, sociology, and Messiah would not come so soon, they had to get anthropology of religion, study all these phenomena. used to living in this world and reinterpret everything Ancestrally, the idea came about that this world Jesus had said and done as a guide for living in this is managed by supernatural, external forces to which world. The gospel was transmitted and adapted to many representations have been given: gods, angels, the circumstances of each stage of history. But they saints, spirits, and occult powers. Since we cannot could not live without religion, because nobody lives control or direct our lives, we need to relate to these without religion. In the second century, pagans still hidden forces. The superior beings have fears and considered Christians atheists, because they had no desires. They can be dangerous or helpful. Religion religion. But a religion was already forming. provides a means for overcoming fears and satisfying Jesus had not founded any religion, and he desires. But we must know how. Religion teaches the himself never wanted to be treated as an object of how. worship. But after Easter the disciples began invok- In a disintegrated society like our radical capital- ing him in worship. Jesus had asked that they follow ist society, religion offers a identity. Like affiliation him, but the disciples invented a religion. They were 37 inspired by the Old Testament and later also by pagan an extensive and rigorous teaching, supervised by a religions. From symbols left by Jesus, they formed a severe magisterium that punished--and continues to system of worship in the form of sacraments: baptism, punish--the possibility of errors or deviations. It cre- the last supper...which at first did not have this reli- ated a theology that, especially after the Council of gious meaning. Trent, was at the service of the Inquisition, defend- Each generation and each region provided some ing the opinions of the hierarchy, even when they complement or variation to the worship of Jesus. He conflicted with science or history. The strictly monar- had not left any doctrine, but they made Jesus the chical organization required and still requires a total object of a doctrine. One of the earliest examples is surrender, even of one’s own thoughts. In a Church of the Symbol of the Apostles. Later, they created an one mind, it was difficult to walk with gospel. entire theological system. Jesus had sent 12 mission- However prophetic groups, groups of poor people aries to announce to the entire world that the King- living without contact with the entire system and dom of God had arrived. He didn’t organize anything, who could live the gospel without being disturbed and he did not plan for what would happen after the by the demands of religion, have always reappeared. death of the 12. The disciples gradually established a This minority has always existed. But even today, system of ministries, laws, and rules. Already at the when Western society has been largely secularized, end of the second century, an episcopate was in- the religious system of the Churches maintains a strict stalled in almost all regions with a Christian presence. discipline that does not permit creativity and social The Christian religion grew and went through a transformations. series of transformations until it reached the pres- The history of Christianity is a permanent ten- ent system of the Catholic Church and the Reformed sion between two poles, the gospel pole and the Churches. The Churches claim that these transforma- religious pole. All reforms inspired by the gospel turn tions do not change anything in their religion. The towards the religious pole within a century, and are elements of this religion came in large part from transformed into religious institutions. This is what Jewish priestly and cultic traditions. They also came occurred with the Reformed Churches and evangelical from the religions that Christianity encountered as it movements within the Catholic Churches. Just look at expanded. The official thesis is that Christianity puri- the huge institutions that are called religious: monas- fied all pagan religions, accepting only the influences teries, priestly societies, and religious congregations. that were not an obstacle to the gospel. The thesis is At certain times, tendencies to move towards the debatable. gospel pole occur: sometimes they succeed in open- The major problem is that during centuries of ing up a space; other times they are eliminated by an Christianity, religion has increasingly occupied more inflexible religious system. space in Churches, to the point of hiding the gospel. If we wonder why so many times in history--even The historians of the Church in Latin America, by recently--Catholics have been and are still so conserva- themselves, can confirm this situation. Once, Charles tive, we need not look far for an answer. When priority Maurras, an atheist French publicist from the extreme is given to religion, conservativism becomes inevitable. right, wrote to congratulate the Roman Church be- It is something unconscious. Simply put, the inter- cause it had managed to purge itself of the dangerous est in combating poverty, slavery, war, racism, or poison of the gospel. This may be an exaggeration, the dominance of class or culture does not enter the but it has a good bit of truth to it. In many places consciousness. Religion is lived outside of this histori- and times, being Christian consisted in attending cal world and is rather lived in a symbolic world that services, observing the commandments, accepting remains indifferent to the material world in which our mysterious doctrine, and obeying the clergy. The gos- body places us. pel was used as a liturgical element: in liturgy it is Therefore, we must ensure that dialogue or alli- necessary for texts to be read, but not exactly to be ance between religions does not become a conserva- understood, or even to be heard: the simple fact that tive league in which each religion seeks to save its they are read is sacred. position in society, without concern for individual In Christianity, increasingly, the clergy controlled lives, the life of our society, and the life of our earth. 38 The global dialogue will also have to be with all those ing indigenous people to the condition of slaves, and who do not believe in any institutionalized religious it supported the slavery of black Africans. Priests and system, including those that are aware of the history religious had their own slaves: therefore, the clergy of religions and fear them. never fought for the abolition of slavery. Indians and This is not to suppress religion. First, because is blacks were abandoned to the instincts of domination impossible: religion is a necessity of being human. of the colonizers, who wanted to quickly accumulate Second, secularized capitalist society allows religion wealth by the exploitation of slave labor. All of this to be a space of freedom. However, we want to make was in the middle of the “Triumph of Religion” in the sure that religion does not become so dominant that colonial cities. it does not accept the historical movement created by The current situation still has not overcome the the gospel of Jesus. schizophrenia that started 450 years ago. There is still At the beginning of the conquest of the Americas huge abandonment of indigenous and black people, there were some missionary groups, including Domini- although there have been isolated places where some cans and Franciscans, who came with the intent to bishops, priests, and sisters have fought to liberate evangelize. They took the side of the poor, disengag- the heirs of these slaves. Immense poverty remains, ing themselves from the conquerors, denouncing their and, above all, social exclusion. How many indigenous abuses and crimes. Their names are always cited to or black bishops are there? How many indigenous or defend Church from accusations of collaborating with black people are there in the parishes? the conquistadors, which was a fact which occurred On the other hand, among the upper classes with the majority of the clergy. The same Dominicans and among many of the bishops and clergy, there is who excommunicated the Spanish in Hispaniola were a sense of triumphalism: Latin America, a Catholic denounced to the King by other religious who were continent! Brazil, a Catholic nation! Peru, a Catholic there too. country! Argentina, a Catholic country! They don’t After the Council of Trent, which forced religious look at those who are below and who were slaves. to live in their monasteries, evangelization was virtu- How many blacks are there in the rich neighborhoods ally abandoned, except in some cases and in some of the cities? How many blacks and indigenous people experiments, such as the “Reductions” in Paraguay, are in commercial centers? Whites do not assume any finally condemned by the Pope, obeying the Catholic responsibility for the oppression of indigenous or Kings. The clergy was devoted to structuring a Chris- black people. The greatest inequality in the world in a tianity that was an extension of Spanish Christianity. Catholic continent? That is religion. It was an extraordinary development of the religion. Where is the gospel? Since the 50s of the last Just visit the ancient colonial cities to see the im- century, some minority of the clergy and religious portance of the temples and convents: Quito, Lima, have gone into the midst of these descendents of Ouro Preto, Salvador de Bahia, Mexico City, Oaxaca, slaves. But the Church reserves only a small portion and many others bear witness to a brilliant Christian- of its pastoral attention for these people. Much love ity with many celebrations, much gold, religious art, during worship and in songs, and in all-white groups, gorgeous processions, and clergy endowed with full but such little service! A love detached from a reality privileges. Temples and convents occupied more than it does not want to see. The preferential option for half of the surface of those ancient cities. It was the poor people in mere words. To understand what is still “triumph of religion.” A vigorous campaign to combat happening today, just look at the situation of the Ma- idolatry destroyed almost all traces of the pre-colonial puche in Chile, in full conflict because white people cultures and religions. Indigenous peoples, prisoners want to take away what little they still retain in order of the encomiendas and mines, were completely aban- to use it for their own economic benefit. With the doned. Some Catholic rites were imposed on them, complicity of the Church, which contents itself with without any explanation, and they were treated in the good words and good intentions, as in Aparecida, and most inhumane manner. How could they have heard seeks no practical consequences. More than ever, we the gospel of Jesus? must return to the gospel of Jesus. We need to leave Religion not only tolerated, but supported reduc- the locked enclosure of Christianity. q 39 Many Options in the Search for Meaning Faustino Teixeira Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil The beginning of the 21st century has been marked ing. It is as fundamental as the need for happiness. by many difficulties. The great British historian Eric Religion comes on the scene to guarantee the inter- Hobsbawn, in his work Interesting Times (2002), pointed pretive code of the complex and difficult situations that out that the 21st century—continuing on from the make up the daily journey of human beings. It becomes somber previous century, one of the most violent in possible to confront and tolerate pain. From this it history—does not point to substantial changes since derives its decisive importance in grassroots settings, it began with “a twilight darkness.” These are difficult which only succeed in understanding the world through times with impressive human and natural catastrophes. the entry point of religion. An outstanding personality, They generate considerable disorientation, insecurity, Riobaldo from Guimarães Rosa, expressed this sentiment anguish, and depression. According to the World Health quite well in his classic work Grande Sertão: Veredas Organization, the second major cause of death in the (1967): industrialized world in 2020 will be depression. This is “So it is that religion fills a void mainly when there a sober diagnostic about the “unease that accompanies are clashes, when we turn in on ourselves. Prayer heals the dynamic of our time, the expression also of an “im- the madness. Generally that is what the salvation of the RENSHAW by Richard Translated poverishment of the interior life.” soul is... Lots of religion, my friend! For myself, I never It is difficult for a human being to live in a state miss an opportunity for religion. I take advantage of all of insecurity and without certainties. We cannot share of them. I drink the water in all the rivers... For me, just a social life without order or meaning since the human one is not enough; it might not suffice (...) It calms me, demand for meaning is a basic anthropological datum. lifts me up. Any shadow refreshes me.” So it is that, in this dark time, we note the growth Analyzing the referential spaces of Brazilian society, of diversified spiritual paths as essential mechanisms the anthropologist Roberto de Matta identified three for the construction of networks of meaning in a frag- relational fields: the house, the street, and the other mented world. We are speaking of “spiritual options,” world. The house, our most proximate universe, is where and not only “religion,” in order to widen the spectrum we live and die; in it the relationships of family, friend- and broaden the horizons of responses found by human ship, and gratuity predominate. The street is the space beings to confront the threats in a world become fragile where we work and confront the arduous struggle for life and disenchanted. and it is the space governed by the laws of the mar- There is no doubt that religions occupy a unique ketplace. But there is also another relational universe, function, as powerful systems of symbols elaborated by which is that of the other world, delimited by churches, human beings, to give order to reality and affirm mean- hermitages, oratories, synagogues, mosques, cemeter- ing. They also exercise an essential role in the integra- ies, and so forth. It is a space marked by the dynamic of tion of marginal or limit experiences, providing a setting eternity and relativity, full of spirits, the dead, angels, for painful experiences in a cosmic framework of refer- saints, orishas, gods, and demons. It is a world of pro- ence. They act as a “sacred canopy,” that is to say as tection in which “everything can have or give meaning.” a protection against the difficulties and threats of life. It is a world of hopes and utopias that can open doors They occupy an important place in the interpretation of and windows, which aren’t visible in the implacable painful situations, helping people deal with suffering. dynamic of the laws of the market. It is a world in which Sociologists and anthropologists like Peter Berger and the possibility of compensations that don’t occur in the Clifford Geertz point out that religion helps “localize” realm of the house and the street are affirmed. It is a suffering and death, making the paradoxes of human place where hidden meaning, able to give order to life suffering bearable. They don’t eliminate perplexity, evil, and create a relationship with the things of life, can or suffering—nor do they propose to do so—but they be recovered. Everything is possible in the relationship attempt to situate us in a meaningful frame of reference with the other world. As Roberto de Matta says, in reli- that produces relief and security. In situations of great gious language, woven out of prayers, supplications, and suffering, nothing is more important than finding mean- promises, a “people that has had everything taken from 40 it and that doesn’t have a chance to speak with its legal The same thing also happens in other religious experi- representatives can speak, be heard, and receive gods in ences in which the faithful become aware that they can their own body.” do more. The experience of joy, interior peace, seren- In the sphere of investigations carried out by the ity, and enthusiasm for living, experienced in religious social sciences, it is confirmed that religious experiences groups, gives rise to a new spirit and leads to unusual such as are common in grassroots settings have fulfilled impulses for concrete action. In the Afro-Brazilian cults an important function of social cohesion. In Brazil, we also, the faithful surrender their body to the dance of have the examples of the Basic Ecclesial Communities the gods and the result gives them new life: “They are (BECs) and the Pentecostal and Afro-Brazilian religions no longer seamstresses, cooks, washerwomen who dance that are aimed at a unique dynamic of reconstruction of to the sound of the drums during the nights of Bahia: a new and vital meaning and at intensifying the quality It is Omolu covered in straw, Xangô dressed in red and of “being subject” or “being community.” Anthropologi- white, Lemanjá, with his algae hair hanging down. Faces cal studies carried out with segments of Pentecostals are metamorphosed into masks and lose the wrinkles of reveal a primal experience of the “generation of bonds their daily labor, the stigmas of daily life made up of of confidence and fidelity that circulate material and preoccupations and misery” (Roger Bastide). affective benefits by means of mutual help, information Those who study religion are challenged to broaden (or recommendations) about employment or access to their gaze in order to capture the complexity that is public policies, in addition to the generation of self-es- contained in those religious experiences, full of vitality, teem and matrimonial ties that tend to give priority to and that occur across various traditions. The presence of religious relationships above family networks” (Ronaldo other networks that are inserted in this phenomenon of de Almeida). the “return of the sacred” also have to be recognized. In Brazil we can see today that it is the Evangelicals They are marked by an extraordinary plasticity: new who live more radically the option for the poor, reach- alternatives for conversion, religious affiliation, and ing the most remote and isolated corners of society, multiple belonging. Here lies the challenge in taking responding effectively to the cries of those most unat- seriously the dynamism of religious experience with its tended, and promoting unusual clustering dynamics. surprising features. It doesn’t imply hiding the ambigu- Matrimonial ties are reconstituted, people who were at ity that permeates all historical and concrete religion. the “bottom of the pit” rediscover the will to live and The cunning problematic of power also comes into play the shine in their eyes in order to take up again their here. But when our gaze turns toward the concrete daily life. People who are paralyzed by fear, pain, and experience of the faithful, the authenticity of their faith chaos find in these religious groups a new spirit for liv- dynamic... the analysis cannot deny or fail to consider ing. This is what Emile Durkheim identified as the dyna- an impressive richness. There is a “foundational fervor” mogenic force of religion that helps us to live, that is to that escapes any possibility of domestication or institu- say to confront and overcome difficulties. tional framing. This vital and spiritual energy among Brazilian However, it is not just religions that construct Pentecostals was the object of an analysis by Richard meaning today. There are significant non-religious spiri- Shaull, one of the fathers of liberation theology. To- tual options that are equally important. Horizons need gether with sociologist Waldo César, he tried to identify to be broadened to capture all the spiritual energies some elements that escape traditional analysis of the that produce experiences of humanization. Spirituality topic, especially the essence of the spiritual experience is not limited to the domain of the specifically religious. that animates poor Pentecostals in their faith journey. As the Dalai Lama has been showing us, spirituality has And it is provoking to hear what occurred among quite to do above all with the “qualities of the human spirit,” a number of the poor in Brazil who, in a situation of such as the capacity for love, compassion, hospitality, extreme instability “come to know a rich experience, an courtesy, and tactfulness. Religious people are not the unimaginable one, of healing and of the saving presence only ones able to live out these qualities. They can also of God.” At that point their lives begin to be rebuilt. In be developed, and to a high degree, by people or com- this spiritual dynamic a “transfiguration and inversion munities that are not religious. From this we see the of daily life takes place:” the least in this world come importance of speaking of “differentiated spiritual op- to be the “first of the Lord,” the “chosen ones of God.” tions in the search for meaning.” q 41 The God i Don’t Believe in Juan Arias Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The author, a well-known correspondent of El País, wrote an article with this title more than 40 years ago that was so successful that it was turned it into a book which was translated into ten languages, and continues to be reissued. It expressed a leap in the religious consciousness of society at the time of the Second Vatican Council.

Before my book The God I Don’t Believe In came live in many hearts, in the God of compassion under- out as a book, it was the subject of an article that stood etymologically: the God that suffers alongside appeared with great scandal on the front page of the humanity; in the God of pardon, the God that loves now defunct Madrid evening paper Pueblo. It has been our clay, our miseries, like a mother. In the God that more than 40 years since then. Those were the hard is interested in our Planet Earth, in all the disinher- times of the Franco dictatorship, with censorship of ited of the world; in all the humiliated; in all the the newspapers. On that occasion, they must have outcasts.

thought that it was something religious and certainly Today, while agnosticism grows, curiously, the Dougherty by Michael Translated let it pass, without reading it. In the end it was ob- search for a different image of God—one without la- ject of scandal for them because the then Archbishop bels—also grows, for a God whom the modern human Morcillo of Madrid called and read me the riot act. being, like Job of the Bible, can get upset with call to How did I dare say, it had to be asked, that one account, and, like Jesus on the cross, even cry out to should not believe “in the God that condemns to for having abandoned humanity to its destiny. hell,” or in “the God who doesn’t need human be- It is not God that is in crisis. It is those false ings,” or in “the God who loves pain,” or in “the God images of God that we have kneaded into our narrow that the rich are not scared of,” etc.? There were 99 vision of mystery, of divinity, a sterile faith now inca- false images of God that helped many to think in that pable of moving mountains. Vatican II removed many cave-like atmosphere of dictatorial Spain. For ex- of the false images of God. It came to defend the view ample, a young married couple wrote me saying that that the blame for atheism in the world was due to they were atheistic but they had cut out my article so the distortions that we believers had made of God and that, if one day their two small children decided to God’s son, Jesus. Still, nevertheless, there are many to believe, they would do so in a God “incapable of con- unmask. demning sexuality.” Still we maintain a certain paternalism and a 40 years ago now, the title of that one article certain religion of power in relation to the figure of gave life to my first book, published in Assisi by Cit- God. Key words of the Christian message have ended tadella Editrice. I was opposed to them publishing it. up prostituted. Even the formidable word “mercy” that I was just a bit older than 30 and nobody knew me in Jesus, following Hosea, preferred to “sacrifices,” has Italy. The book nevertheless has been the most trans- lost its force because it has been interpreted as code lated of my books. It is out in more than ten lan- for power in reference to God. It is He who pitied guages, among them in Korean and Indonesian. Today, humanity because He is the merciful one, superior in when I see that the book continues to be published his kindness. Jesus thought of mercy, however, like in several countries, I ask myself why. The now de- in the modern term “solidarity.” In this way, the key ceased Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, told me that it was of mercy is not the kindness of God towards the hu- a fruit of the Vatican II Council that had done away man being whom God aids, but that we human beings with some negative images of the God of fear. need to be “in solidarity” with others, not because we Perhaps today other new negative images of are superior to those to whom we offer our compas- God should be added to that catalogue. In 40 years, sion, but because we are equal in dignity, all brothers things have changed much, but I believe that the and sisters of a same race, struck in the image of the hope in a God that does not condemn continues to Creator. Nobody is superior to anybody else in the 42 compassionate logic of Jesus. If one is considered This is the sublimity of love. There are new faces superior in some form, he must wash the feet of oth- of God that are harder to reject, at least as a concept, ers, so that it stays evident that nobody is superior to even by agnostics or atheists. They can help us in anybody else. our modern world—still stirred by the eternal law of The same happens with the word “pardon.” Who- violence, envies, mutual hatreds, and ambitions—to ever pardons is placed over the one pardoned. Again find rest on the friendly beach of a God distinct from it is about a relation of power. Jesus, on the cross, how God has always been presented to us. God is not gives a magnificent example of how to pardon without the God of laws—whose Sabbath Jesus attacked—nor humiliating, without feeling superior: “Pardon them, the bureaucratic God of Canon law, but the God that because they do not know what they do.” He does demands nothing more and nothing less from human not pardon them, placing himself above those that beings than to be faithful to the voice of their own crucified him, but he excuses them: they did not know conscience, which, certainly, is more severe and de- what they were doing and therefore they do not need manding than all the laws promulgated by humans. As to be pardoned. John XXIII also in his will affirmed the convert Cardinal Newman said: “It is better to be that he did not need to pardon anybody, because “he wrong following your own conscience than to be right had never felt offended by anybody.” going against it.”

The God I Don’t Believe In (Juan Arias) I will never believe in: The God who deadens earthly reform and gives only hope for the future life. The God who “surprises” man in a sin of weakness. The God of those who believe that they love Him becau- The God who condemns material things. se they love no one. The God who loves pain. The God who thinks war is good. The God who flashes a red light against human joys. The God of those that want the priest to sprinkle the The God who is a magician and sorcerer. whitewashed sepulchres of their dirty deals with The God who makes himself feared or does not allow holy water. people to talk informally to him. The God who would deny humans the freedom to sin. The God who makes Himself the monopoly of a church, The God who lacks forgiveness for any sin. a race, a culture, or a caste. The God who accepts and endorses everything that the The God who plays at condemning. priests say about him. The God who “sends” people to hell. The God who puts the law before conscience. The God incapable of forgiving what many men condemn. The God that prefers purity to love. The God incapable of understanding that children will The God who cannot find Himself in the eyes of a child always get themselves dirty and be forgetful. or a pretty woman or a mother who cries. The God who demands that if a man is to believe he The God wedded to politics. must give up being a man. The God who will annihilate our flesh eternally instead The God who is not feared by the rich at whose doors of resurrecting it. lie hunger and misery. The God who will accept as a friend anyone who goes The God who is adored by those who go to mass and through this world without making anybody happy. yet go on stealing and slandering. The God who, embracing humans here on earth, doesn’t The God who isn’t able to find anything of His good- communicate to them the joy and happiness of all ness, His essence, wherever love exists, no matter human loves put together. how mistaken it may be. The God who would not have become truly human with The God who condemns sexuality. all its consequences. The God for whom it is as sinful to enjoy the sight of a The God in whom I cannot hope against all hope. pair of pretty legs as to slander and rob one’s neighbor or abuse one’s power to get ahead. Yes, my God is ... the other God. q 43 Although There Isn’t a God Up Above Roger Lenaers Holland - Austria The Latin American Agenda, in the series that it sponsors, called “Tiempo Axial,” has published the book “Another Christianity Is Possible,” by Roger Lenaers, which has been very successful throughout Latin America. Encouraged by this, the author has just written the book “Although There Isn’t a God Up There Above,” developing the same topic. This is a synthesis of the book written by the author. It is worthwhile to debate it. This book builds on the previous one, Another the law requires is good, and it favors the process of Christianity Is Possible, and it therefore supposes that humanization. For law to survive the “death of God,” we have already said goodbye (at least in theory) to and hence the disappearance of its source, lamented that representation of God in which we were edu- by Nietzsche, there needs to be another foundation cated, and which is from the biblical tradition. This and a new justification. Here enters the “theonomy” traditional representation is purely heteronymous: of a God who is primordial and transcendent Love that our world, imperfect, transient, powerless...depends is expressed in the evolution of the cosmos, in the entirely on the other world, which is perfect, eternal, form of a calling and an impulse to love. The ethics almighty...from where a more or less anthropomorphic of theonomy (the modern Christian faith) is an ethics God governs us. But it is not enough to say goodbye that is guided by the demands of love. These demands to such a representation in theory. We need to draw are partly identical to those of traditional ethics, but out the practical consequences. not without their weaknesses and gaps. The weak- Given that modernity is characterized by an nesses of an ethics of the law are, among others: al- awareness of the autonomy of the cosmos and human ways allowing loopholes, responding to the problems beings, we need to separate ourselves from everything of a certain time, and losing its meaning when times which an heteronymous vision implies. But even when change. Its great weakness is that it requires sanc- we reject heteronomy, we continue to unconsciously tions: the fear that such sanctions inspire takes the think and act as if that other world continues to be place of the free acceptance of the good sought by real and active, providing knowledge and shaping our the law, thus undermining the ethical value of human actions. This question is a simple and clear approach acts. Sanctions are a means of domestication, and to see where we are unconscious victims of this error: they degrade the human being to the level of animal. “does this opinion or practice presuppose the action The author examines in more detail three specific or existence of that other world?” Sometimes it will weaknesses of traditional ethics, and shows how it is require careful analysis. If, for example, I am opposed possible to correct an ethics of love, fortunately. First, to euthanasia because it violates the prohibition to sexual ethics, which is totally unsatisfactory; the au- touch a human life, I am referring, at base, to a com- thor examines the causes and shows how an ethics of mandment, the fifth, and I am therefore under the love maintains all that was good in traditional sexual influence of another world, one which I had thought ethics, but releases the dead weight that comes with I had said goodbye to. Or, for example, thinking that it. Masturbation, homosexuality, premarital sex... Eucharistic species actually change, or that Jesus has are then seen under an entirely different perspec- left the tomb on Easter morning, or the multiplica- tive. Conjugal love leads the author to examine more tion of the loaves is a fact...all of these postulate the closely the indissolubility of marriage, which rests on intervention of a supernatural force in the dominion a heteronomous conception of the relationship be- (autonomous!) of nature. This new book undertakes a tween spouses, and to criticize the absurd practice of cleanup task. ecclesiastical annulment of marriage. In the first part, the author examines the field of The second weakness is the absence of guidelines ethics. Traditional Christian ethics is an ethics of law, for the use of money. This gap has opened the door and given that this law is from above, it is heterony- to the shameless capitalism we are living. An ethic of mous, although we do not realize it. In general, what love, inspired by Jesus’ ethics, which rejects all forms 44 of greed, would have led to a completely different ment and no reward...if how one lives doesn’t impact economic world. this? What then remains of the Justice of God? Even The third weakness of this ethic is that freedom though we do not have fully satisfactory answers, it has been sacrificed--an indispensable good for the would be wrong to seek refuge again in heteronomy: human being that the Christian should live in fullness, we would live in contradiction with ourselves. like Jesus--on the altar of obedience to institutions 3. As for the Bible, the Church actually reads it that cannot be justified except from a heteronymous like Muslims read the Qur’an, as words directly from viewpoint. The author tries to find a balance between the mouth of God-up-there-above. Two chapters deal the need to act as free people and to act as members with the problems for the modern believer regarding of the body of the Church, complementary and some- the phrase “Word of God.” Although “God” the tran- times contradictory demands. The second part of the scendent Mystery may not “speak,” it does not cease book is of a dogmatic nature and discusses four major to express itself in the evolution of the cosmos and in themes in six chapters, in which the unconscious mix- the profundity of those who are open to its inspira- ture of heteronomy and autonomy, that is, water and tion. When they formulate their inspiration, the result fire, against which this book was written, is clearly is a human word, marked by the culture and psychol- demonstrated: the relationship between creation and ogy of the author. But these human words resonate evolution, death, the Bible, and the Eucharist. How with an encounter with the Absolute. This explains do we approach these issues if we do not appeal to the ambivalence of the Bible. Like the Qur’an, the the existence of another world? Bible has inspired both humanization and crimes 1. Creation. In Rome it is said that creation against humanity. In any case, it is a dangerous and and evolution are not opposites. But if, with Rome, completely heteronymous exaggeration to reverence it creation is seen as an act of God above, there is the as sacrosanct, utilizing it to justify whatever we want implicit acceptance that he can intervene at any time. to think or do. This is why the neo-Darwinists like Dawkins reject a 4. For all the sacraments, it is important that Creator God, even if he does nothing else. Moreover, from the beginning they have been interpreted in what role can that God from above still play when the a heteronymous manner: the God-up-there-above’s laws formulated by Darwin and De Vries adequately grace would descend at the moment of a particular explain the process? The chapter responds to this human action. Regarding the Eucharist, this action of double objection by presenting the cosmos as an combining would make invisible changes that call to evolving expression of Mystery, which completely mind magic, especially “transubstantiation,” and as a transcends us and which is Spirit. It is never neces- consequence of this, the real presence (understood as sary to resort to an intervention by the “God up the physical body) of the risen Jesus. This interpreta- there.” A comparison with a Mozart sonata illustrates tion is the result of a heteronymous way of reading this view of the creative act and clarifies the origin the Bible, from a pre-modern vision of the cosmos and of life, animal consciousness, and the human spirit, its laws. The interpretation of the Mass as sacrifice- intractable problems if seen from a purely materialis- - another fully heteronymous concept--and which is tic viewpoint. restricted to privileged male officiants, completes the 2. It is clear that death can no longer be under- picture of the problems that beset the modern be- stood as the passage from this world to another, believer who wants to participate in this ritual. In two cause this other world has disappeared. But tradition chapters, the book shows what actually happens in has imbued us with its conceptions so strongly that this ritual and important role it can have in the life even those who profess autonomy find it very difficult of faith. to release the certainties of the past: trial, heaven, The book concludes with a chapter that demon- purgatory, hell, and limbo, for which there is no lon- strates that modernity, departing from its axiom of ger any place in theonomy. The chapter tries to find autonomy, necessarily leads to atheism...but that this an answer for these problems then. For example: what atheism, if understood correctly, opens our lives up to is left of us when we die? What if there is no punish- the God-Mystery that is transcendent Love. q 45 2011: international Year of... 2010-2020: UN Decade for People of African Descent

The General Assembly, fundamental freedoms, Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Expressing concern that, despite the efforts, forms Rights, which proclaims that all human beings are of racism and discrimination, and the effects of mar- born free and equal in dignity and rights and that ginalization and social exclusion against people of everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set African descent, have not been eradicated in some out therein, without distinction of any kind, in par- parts of the world, ticular as to race, colour or national origin, Recognizing that further national and international Recalling the International Covenant on Civil and actions are required to ensure the full enjoyment of Political Rights, the International Covenant on Eco- all human rights, economic, social, cultural, civil and nomic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on political, without discrimination, by people of African the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against descent, including men, women and children, as well Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and as the continuous improvement of living conditions, the International Convention on the Elimination of 1. Proclaims the ten-year period beginning on 1 All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and other relevant January 2010 the United Nations Decade for People international human rights instruments, of African Descent; Recalling, in particular, article 26 of the Interna- 2. Decides that the goals of the Decade should tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which include, inter alia: provides that all persons are equal before the law and (a) To strengthen international cooperation and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal national actions for the benefit of people of African protection of the law and that, in this respect, the descent in such areas as human rights, gender equal- law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to ity, the environment, development, education, health, all persons equal and effective protection against dis- employment, housing, and access to information and crimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, communication technologies, among others; language, religion, political or other opinion, national (b) To support the implementation of actions to or social origin, property, birth or other status[...] enhance the participation and integration of people Reaffirming the commitment to prevent, combat of African descent in all political, economic, social and eradicate racism and racial discrimination, and cultural aspects of society, and in the advance- Reaffirming also the universality, indivisibility, ment and economic development of their countries, interrelatedness, interdependence and mutually rein- while respecting their cultural and ethnic identities; forcing nature of all civil, political, cultural, economic (c) To promote a greater knowledge of and respect and social rights, for their diverse heritage and culture; Reiterating the recognition of the value and di- (d) To recognize, reaffirm and promote better versity of the cultural heritage of people of African knowledge of the significant cultural, economic, po- descent, and reaffirming the importance and necessity litical and scientific contribution of people of African of ensuring their full integration into social, economic descent in the development and history of societies; and political life, in countries where they represent 3. Urges Member States to adopt and/or strength- minorities, with a view to facilitating their full par- en measures, including on legislative, policy, institu- ticipation at all levels in the decision-making process, tional and operational matters, in order to effectively Taking note of the valuable contributions made pursue the goals defined in the present resolution and by the various initiatives undertaken at the national, all other relevant internationally agreed objectives regional and international levels to benefit people of that have a positive impact for the realization of hu- African descent and to realize their human rights and man rights of people of African descent[.] q 46 2011: international Year of 2011: international Year of Forests Chemistry The General Assembly... The General Assembly, Recalling the Convention on Biological Diversity, Recognizing that humankind’s understanding of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate the material nature of our world is grounded, in par- Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification ticular, in our knowledge of chemistry, in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/ Stressing that education in and about chemistry or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, and other is critical in addressing challenges such as global relevant conventions, climate change, in providing sustainable sources of Recognizing that forests and sustainable forest clean water, food and energy and in maintaining management can contribute significantly to sus- a wholesome environment for the well-being of all tainable development, poverty eradication and the people, achievement of internationally agreed development Considering that the science of chemistry and its goals, including the Millennium Development Goals[,] applications produce medicines, fuels, metals and Emphasizing the need for sustainable management virtually all other manufactured products, of all types of forests, Being aware that the year 2011 provides the op- Convinced that concerted efforts should focus on portunity to celebrate the contributions of women raising awareness at all levels to strengthen the sus- to science on the one-hundredth anniversary of the tainable management, conservation and sustainable awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Maria development of all types of forests for the benefit of Sklodowska-Curie, current and future generations, Being aware also that the year 2011 provides the Decides to declare 2011 the International Year of opportunity to highlight the need for international Forests; scientific collaboration on the one-hundredth anniver- Requests the secretariat of the United Nations sary of the founding of the International Association Forum on Forests, Department of Economic and Social of Chemical Societies, Affairs, to serve as the focal point for the imple- Noting the adoption by the Executive Board of the mentation of the International Year of Forests, in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or- collaboration with Governments, the Collaborative ganization at its one hundred and seventy-ninth ses- Partnership on Forests and international, regional and sion of a proposal for the proclamation by the United subregional organizations and processes as well as Nations of 2011 as the International Year of Chemis- relevant major groups; try, and noting also the unanimous resolution of the Invites, in particular, the Food and Agriculture International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, at Organization of the United Nations, as the Chair of its 2007 Council meeting, to have 2011 proclaimed the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, within its the International Year of Chemistry, mandate to support the implementation of the Inter- Recognizing the leading role of the International national Year of Forests; Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in coordinating Calls upon Governments, relevant regional and and promoting chemistry activities at the national international organizations, and major groups to sup- and regional levels around the world, port activities related to the Year, inter alia, through 1. Decides to proclaim 2011 the International voluntary contributions, and to link their relevant Year of Chemistry[;] activities to the Year; 3. Encourages all Member States, the United Na- Encourages voluntary partnerships among Member tions system and all other actors to take advantage States, international organizations and major groups of the Year to promote actions at all levels aimed at to facilitate and promote activities related to the Year increasing awareness among the public of the impor- at the local and national levels, including by creating tance of chemistry and promoting widespread access national committees or designating focal points in to new knowledge and to chemistry activities. Find addition information to help you organize your own activity here: http://www.un.org/observances/index.shtml http://www.un.org/observances/index.shtml your own activity here: you organize to help information addition Find their respective countries[.] q 47 January July M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 24/31 25 26 27 28 29 30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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YEAR 2011: YEAR 6724 in the Julian calendar. Year 5771 in the Jewish Era (5772 begins on Sept. 29, 2011). Year 1432 of the Hijri calendar (began on Dec. 7, 2010; the year 1433 begins Nov. 26, 2011). There is a Gregorian-Hijri Dates Converter at www.islamicfinder.org/dateConversion.php 56 Thursday Friday Saturday 31 11 Num 6,22-27 / Gal 4, 4-7 Ps 66 / Lk 2,16-21 1508: The colonization of Puerto Rico begins. 1804: Haiti becomes world’s first Black republic. National January holiday. 1959: Victory of the Cuban revolution. 1977: Mauricio López, Rector of the University of Mendoza, Argentina, member of the World Council of Churches, disappeared. 1990: Maureen Courtney and Teresa Rosales, Religious women, assassinated by U.S.-backed Contras in Nicaragua. 1994: Indigenous campesinos stage Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. 2003: Lula takes office as President in Brazil. International Day of Peace

Epiphany 2 Isa 60,1-6 / Ps 71 2 Eph 3,2-6 / Mt 2,1-12 Basil the Great Gregory of Nazienzen J.K. Wilhelm Loehe 1904: US Marines land in the Dominican Republic to “protect U.S. interests.” 1979: Francisco Jentel, defender of Indigenous peoples and campesinos, victim of Brazilian security forces. 1981: José Manuel de Souza «Zé Piau», worker, victim of the «grileiros» in Pará, Brazil. 1994: Daniel Arrollano dies, devoted guardian of the memory of Argentinean martyrs. 57 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 33 1Jn 3,22-4,6 / Ps 2 44 1Jn 4,7-10 / Ps 7I 55 1Jn 4,11-18 / Ps 71 Genevieve Mt 4,12-17.23-25 Rigoberto Mk 6,34-44 Telesfor and Emiliana Mk 6,45-52 1511: Agüeybaná, ‘El Bravo’, leads a rebellion of the Taino 1493: Columbus expedition begins return voyage with up Kaj Munk people against Spanish occupiers in Puerto Rico, the to 25 kidnapped Indigenous people. 1534: Guarocuya, “Enriquillo,” Christian leader in La ‘Cry of Coayuco’. 1975: José Patricio Leon, “Pato”, a Young Christian Student Española (Dominican Republic) rebels in defense 1981: Diego Quic, Popular Indigenous leader, catechist, leader in Chile, is disappeared. of his people. disappeared, Guatemala. 2005: The Supreme Court authorizes the trial of Pinochet 1785: Queen Mary I orders the suppression of all Brazilian 1994: Antulio Parrilla Bonilla dies, bishop who fought for for Operation Condor. industry except that of clothing for slaves. Puerto Rican independence and the cause of the 2010: The United Arab Emerites complete the Burj Dubai, 2007: Axel Mencos, hero of the Guatemalan resistance and persecuted, the “Las Casas” of Puerto Rico. the hightest building in the world, 818 meters, 370 the steadfast church, dies. more than the Taipei 101. Partial eclipse of the sun, January visible in Europe, N of Africa and W of Asia. New Moon: 09h02m in Capricorn

58 Thursday Friday Saturday 66 1Jn 4,19-5,4 / Ps 71 77 1Jn 5,5-13 / Ps 147 88 1Jn 5,14-21 / Ps 149 Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar Lk 4,14-22a Raymond of Penafort Lk 5,12-16 Severino Jn 3,22-30 1848: The Guarani are declared Paraguayan citizens by 1835: Victory of Cabanagem. Rebels take Belem and 1454: Pope Nicholas authorizes the enslavement of any decree of Carlos A. López. govern the province. African nation by the king of Portugal as long as the January 1915: Agrarian reform in Mexico, fruit of the revolution, first 1981: Sebastião Mearim, rural leader in Para, Brazil, people are baptized. distribution of landholdings in Latin America. assassinated by «grileiros». 1642: Galileo Galilei dies, condemned by the Inquisition. The 1927: To combat Sandino, American troops occupy Nicaragua. 1983: Felipe and Mary Barreda, Christian revolutionary Vatican will “rehabilitate” him 350 years later. They will leave only in 1933. activists, are assassinated by U.S. backed Contras 1850: Juan, leader of the Queimado revolution is hanged 1982: Victoria de la Roca, a Guatemalan Religious who in Nicaragua. in Espírito Santo, Brazil. worked for the poor, is disappeared. 1999: Barotomé Carrasca Briseño dies, bishop of Oaxaca, 1912: Founding of the African National Congress. 1986: Julio González, bishop of Puno, Peru, dies in a Mexico, defender of the poor and of Indigenous 1982: Domingo Cahuec Sic, an indigenous Achi delegate of the suspicious accident. people. Word, is killed by the military in Rabinal, Guatemala. 1992: Augusto Maria and Augusto Conte, human rights activists, are martyred in Argentina.

Baptism of the Lord 9 Isa 42,1-4.6-7 / Ps 28 9 Acts 10,34-38 / Mt 3,13-17 Eulogio, Julián, Basilia 1662: Authorities in Lisbon order the extermination of the Janduim Indians in Brazil. 1858: First known strike in Brazil, by typographers, pioneers of workers’ struggles there. 1959: Rigoberta Menchú is born Chimel, Guatemala.

59 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1010 Heb 1,1-6 / Ps 96 1111 Heb 2,5-12 / Ps 8 1212 Heb 2,14-18 / Ps 104 Aldo Mk 1,14-20 Higinio, Martín de León Mk 1,21-28 Benedict, Tatiana Mk 1,29-39 1911: Five month strike by the shoemakers of São Paulo, 1839: Eugenio Maria de Hostos is born, advocate for Puerto 1694: 6500 men begin the siege of Palmares that will last for an 8 hour day. Rican independence and Caribbean confederation. until February 6. 1920: The League of Nations is created following the 2005: Raul Castro Bocel, campesino anti-mining activist, killed 1948: The United States Supreme Court proclaims the equality massacres of the First World War. by Guatemalan authorities. of blacks and whites in schools. 1978: Pedro Joaquin Chamorro is assassinated, journalist 1970: Nigerian Civil War ends with the surrender of Biafra. who fought for civil liberties against the Somoza First quarter: 11h31m in Aries dictatorship in Nicaragua. 1982: Dora Azmitía «Menchy», 23 years old, teacher, martyr to young Catholic students, Guatemala. 1985: Ernesto Fernández Espino, a Lutheran pastor, January martyred.

60 Thursday Friday Saturday 1313 Heb 3,7-14 / Ps 94 1414 Heb 4,1-5.11 / Ps 77 1515 Heb 4,12-16 / Ps 18 Hilary, George Fox Mk 1,40-45 Fulgence Mk 2,1-12 Efisio Mk 2,13-17 1825: Frei Caneca, republican revolutionary and hero of 1988: Miguel Angel Pavón, director of the Honduran Human 1919: Rosa Luxemburg, revolutionary social philosopher, killed Ecuadorian Confederation, shot. Rights Commission, and Moisés Landaverde are following an unsuccessful revolt in Berlin. January 1879: Roca begins the desert campaign in Patagonia assassinated. 1929: Martin Luther King Jr. born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Argentina. 1997: 700,000 South Korean strikers march on behalf of 1970: Leonel Rugama dies in the revolutionary struggle 1893: U.S. Marines land in Hawaii to impose a constitution, social rights. against the Somoza dictatorship. 40 years. stripping monarchical authority and disenfranchising 1976: The government of Bahia (Brazil) suppresses the the Indigenous poor. police records of the Candomblés. 2001: Earthquake in El Salvador, 7.9 on the Richter scale, 1981: Estela Pajuelo Grimani, campesina, 55 years old, 1200 dead, 4200 disappeared. 11 children, martyr to solidarity, Peru. 1982: The Constitution of Canada acknowledges the rights of First Nations. 1990: Collapse of the Brazilian currency.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 49,3.5-6 / Ps 39 1616 1Cor 1,1-3 / Jn 1,29-34 Marcel 1899: Treaty of Berlin divided Samoan Archipelago between Germany and the USA, usurping traditional rulers. 1992: Chapultepec Peace Accords end 12 year civil war in El Salvador. World Day against Child Slavery In memory of Igbal Mashib, a child slave who, with the support of the Liberation Front of Pakistan Workers, closed several factories employing child slaves (solidaridad.net).

61 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1717 Heb 5,1-10 / Ps 109 1818 Heb 6,10-20 / Ps 110 1919 Heb 7,1-3.15-17 / Ps 109 Anthony Abbot Mk 2,18-22 Beatrice, Prisca Mk 2,23-28 Mario, Martha Mk 3,1-6 1961: Patrice Lumumba, African independence hero, The confession of Peter Henry of Upsala murdered. 1535: Founding of the City of Kings, (Lima). 1897: Battle of Tabuleirinho: the sertanejos stop the Army 3 1981: Ana M. Castillo, militant Salvadoran Christian murdered. 1867: Rubén Darío is born in Metapa, Nicaragua. kms. Outside Canudos, Brasil. 1981: Silvia Maribel Arriola, nurse, first Religious martyr in 1978: Germán Cortés, Christian activist, a martyr for the 1817: An army under General José de San Martín crosses the Salvadoran revolution. cause of justice in Chile. the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile from 1988: Jaime Restrepo López, priest, martyr for the cause 1981: José Eduardo, union leader in Acre, Brazil, contracted Spanish rule. of the poor, Colombia. murder. 1969: Jan Palach, a Czech student, dies after immolating him- 1991: The Persian Gulf War begins. 1982: Sergio Bertén, Belgian Religious, and companions are self as a political protest against Soviet occupation. 1994: Earthquake in Los Angeles. martyred because of their solidarity with Guatemalan Full Moon: 21h21m in Cancer 1996: Juan Luis Segundo, liberation theologian dies Uruguay. peasants. January 2010: Earthquate in Haiti, 7.3 on the Richter scale. More than 250,000 dead, plus total destruction. 2010: A commission in the Netherlands concludes that the invasion of Irak in 2003 was illegal.

62 Thursday Friday Saturday 2020 Heb 7,25-8,6 / Ps 39 2121 Heb 8,6-13 / Ps 84 2222 Heb 9,2-3.11-14 / Ps 46 Fabian and Sebastian Mk 3,7-12 Agnes Mk 3,13-19 Vincent Mk 3,20-21 1973: Amilcar Cabral, anti-colonial leader in Guinea Bissau, 1972: Gerardo Valencia Cano, bishop of Buenaventura 1565: «Tata» Vasco de Quiroga, bishop of Michoacán, killed by Portuguese police. (Colombia), prophet and martyr for liberation. precursor of the Indigenous reductions. January 1979: Octavio Ortiz, a priest, together with four and catechists, 1974: Campesinos of Valle Alto, Bolivia are martyred. 1932: Peasant plan to revolt against oppression in El Salvador are killed by government troops in El Salvador. 1980: María Ercilia and Ana Coralia Martínez, students, sparks massive reactionary violence. 1982: Carlos Morales, Dominican, martyr among the Red Cross workers and catechists, martyrs in El 1982: Massacre of campesinos from Pueblo Nuevo, Indigenous campesinos of Guatemala. Salvador. Colombia. 2009: Barack Hussein Obama, first Afro-American President 1984: The Movement of Workers without Land (MST) formed 2006: Evo Morales, Indigenous Aymara, becomes President of the United States, takes office. in Cascavel, Brazil. of Bolivia. 2000: Indigenous and popular uprising in Ecuador.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 8,23b-9,3 / Ps 26 2323 1Cor 1,10-13.17 / Mk 4,12-23 Ildefonse 1870: 173 Piegan people massacred by U.S. cavalry on the banks of the Marias River in Montana. 1914: Revolt of the Juazeiro, Brazil. Victory of the sertanejos commanded by P. Cícero. 1958: Fall of the last Venezuelan dictator: General Marcos Pérez Jiménez. 1983: Segundo Francisco Guamán, a Quechua campesino, murdered.

63 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2424 Heb 9,15.24-28 / Ps 97 2525 Acts 22,3-16 / Ps 116 2626 2Tim 1,1-8 / Ps 95 Francis de Sales Mk 3,22-30 Conversion of St. Paul Mk 16,15-18 Timothy, Titus and Silas Lk 10,1-9 1835: Blacks organize an urban revolt in Salvador, Brazil. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 1500: Vicente Pinzón disembarks in North East Brazil - before 1977: Five union lawyers were murdered in their Atocha 1917: USA buys Danish West Indies for $25 million. Pedro Alvares Cabral. Street office by neo-fascists in Madrid, Spain. 1919: League of Nations founded at Treaty of Versailles 1813: Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican Republic’s national talks following World War I. hero, is born. 1524: The “Twelve Apostles of Mexico” leave Spain, 1914: José Gabriel, ‘Cura Brochero’, priest and prophet of Franciscans. Argentina’s campesinos, dies. 1554: Founding of São Paulo, Brazil. 2001: Earthquake in India: 50,000 victims. Las quarter: 12h57m in Scorpio January

64 Thursday Friday Saturday 2727 Heb 10,19-25 / Ps 23 2828 Heb 10,32-39 / Ps 36 2929 Heb 11,1-2.8-10 / Int. Lk 1 Angela de Merici, Lidia Mk 4,21-25 Thomas Aquinas Mk 4,26-34 Valero Mk 4,35-41 1554: Pablo de Torres, bishop of Panama, first exile from Latin 1853: José Martí, ‘Apostle of Cuban Independence’, is born. 1863: Shoshone resistance broken by massacre of over 200 America, for defending the Indigenous peoples. 1909: US troops leave Cuba after 11 years for the first time people on the Bear River in Idaho by US cavalry. January 1945: The Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland is since the end of the Spanish American War. 1895: José Martí, poet and national hero, launches the liberated. Holocaust Memorial Day. 1979: Puebla Conference begins, Mexico. Cuban war of independence. 1973: Paris Peace Accords bring the Vietnam War to 1985: First national congress of MST. an end. 1999: The dollar reaches 2.15 reales, critical moment in the 1977: Miguel Angel Nicolau, a Salesian priest committed to fall of the Brazilian currency. the youth of Argentina, is disappeared. 2001: Pinochet is tried as the author of the crimes of the “caravan of death.” 2010: Tony Blaire testifies before the commission investigating him for his participation in the invasion of Irak in 2003.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Zeph 2,3; 3,12-13 / Ps 145 3030 1Cor 1,26-31 / Mk 5,1-12a Martina 1629: Antônio Raposo, bandit, destroys the Guarani missions of Guaira, P.R., Brazil, and enslaves 4,000 Indigenous persons. 1948: Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated. 1972: Fourteen civil rights marchers are killed on Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland by British paratroopers. Non-Violence and Peace Day

65 God: Gap or Gap-Filler? Pere Torras Sant Feliu de Guixols, Catalunya, Spain “Nobody has ever seen God.” If this is true, can the great “deception” caused by the four illuminated we even talk of “God”? Let’s imagine the following ones. They said, “We already have enough problems fable: here without having to worry about whether other Once upon a time, some people were born and worlds exist.” But others said, “Haven’t you realized? lived in a large space that was entirely enclosed on Perhaps our world isn’t anything else than a prison. If all sides, like an immense ball, and where there was this ‘exterior’ world exists, then everything is different everything necessary to live and to develop. There for us!” Some wanted to cover up the damned gap, weren’t any doors and no light entered. Because of some wanted to leave it open, and some wanted to this, the people took it as a given that their world make new gaps... was the ENTIRE WORLD. They hadn’t developed their After more time passed, some people discovered sense of sight, but they had developed their other that when someone passed by the “gap” it was pos- senses. sible to see the person. People and things, when they One day, one of them reached the wall-limit of passed by what they called “light” in some way also that space and touched something like a small win- became “luminous.” They didn’t know what “light” dow that she could open. She advised the group was, but the “light” allowed them to be seen and to saying, Touch here, there’s nothing! Some, stretching see things. their arms, confirmed that they truly were not touch- The powerful ones among them wanted to become ing anything. Someone said: This is a gap, a hole in owners of the gap, and they even wanted to obligate the wall, and it could be dangerous. Leave it alone. But everyone to pass in front of it in order to be able to others thought that this emptiness could be an exit. control them better. Maybe an “exterior” existed; maybe their world wasn’t This “gap” caused so many problems! But, also, the only one that existed... for some, so many possibilities! The window remained half-open and now light We don’t know how the fable ended. You, dear had entered. Because of this, after a long time, some reader, can imagine its ending or its process without end. people began to develop their sense of sight: they “God”: What do we mean by this word? saw a type of “luminous and blurred stain” in the The word “God” could be the name that we give to midst of the general darkness, and they began to talk the “gap” that we experience in our lives. Even if we about it. don’t think about it very much, we experience our life Some, who could more or less see it, called it as perforated. From our side, we perceive an empti- simply a hallucination. ness if we do not know that it is full of a reality that With time, some began to better perceive this we cannot capture. light: they saw the form that it had, but they didn’t I know that I exist because I directly experience know whether what they could see but not touch was my existence. But this experience has two sides: I part of the wall-limit, or whether it came from out- feel that I exist, but I also recognize that I could not side, if “outside” existed. exist. I am, but I am not the cause of myself. I feel Could it be that an exterior world existed?—some that I am a being, but not an absolute being. Like the asked. bird that flies, I feel myself floating through existence, That’s impossible! Everything that is real can be but, at the same time, I feel that I do not sustain my- touched. self by myself. Am I sustained? As dishonest as I may Maybe the true world is outside, and we don’t have be with myself, I feel that my existence speaks of a the senses to adequately perceive it!—still others said. relationship with ANOTHER REALITY that sustains me. That “vacuum” was the cause of huge debates, I am like the light of an electric lamp: it exists, but it fights, and divisions. Many lamented and denounced will stop existing if it becomes disconnected. 66 What is this OTHER REALITY? ers, but we don’t sense the OTHER. Conversely, exis I don’t know. I only feel a gap in my existence. tentially, in the measure in which we enter into a And it is precisely this gap that I feel in me which situation of dialogue and communion with others and allows me not to feel weighted down, closed, opaque, with the world, we intuit that “perforated existence” alone... It is like a window that frees me from being is something we all share. When we fly in an airplane, imprisoned within myself. It is feeling that my center if anyone has a fear of falling, it’s useless to grip is outside of myself, like with lovers. It is to be in onto the seat, because the danger, in each case, is of love: to feel that the center of one’s own life is in the the floating entirety. Our entire world is that which is person one loves, outside of oneself. Then one’s own sustained in existence despite the fact that it is not life becomes communion, dialogue, and relationship... sustained by itself. Thus, we are sustained, disregard- In fact, each person who comes into our lives, if ing our incapacity to know who sustains us. Existen- we accept them and “open ourselves” to them, cre- tially, the opening to others brings us to the OTHER, ates in us something like an “emptiness” that permits who is unknown. us to embrace them. And here is where everything Is it possible to be open to others and not take begins: in the PRESENCE OF THE OTHER. the next step towards the OTHER? Rationally, yes. It How do I situate myself before the presence of is possible to respect others, and even give one’s life the other? If I approach with an open and welcoming for them, without talking about “God” and negating heart, a gap opens up in my life, and this becomes all the real content of this word. Nevertheless, exis- prolonged, dialoguing, and communicating... Also it tentially, the authentic opening to others always goes becomes creative: I create myself like a you in front of further than their concrete reality. Truly respecting the other, and I help the other to create a you before others includes the attitude of respecting them even me. Conversely, if I approach the other with a closed if they are different. In the concrete reality of every heart, my life remains opaque, and the presence of other we respect all others. In every concrete other, the other generates in me a desire to dominate him/ we respect the unknown OTHER. her or to use him to incorporate him into my world or, But it is also possible that someone may say they if not, to exclude him from everything. “believe in God” without really being open to oth- Jean Paul Sartre said that “other people are hell” ers. This means that they have made a “God” in their since their liberty demarcates the limits of our liberty. measure, to legitimize or justify their closure. That is, But this is exactly the opposite: one cannot be free an “idol”. In the language of our fable, it would be a without the presence of the other or others. It is their “gap-filling” God. presence that creates in me a “gap”, a “free space” When a person says, “I don’t believe in God,” I where my liberty can be born. feel tenderness towards her, because I imagine how Sartre “demonstrated” the non-existence of God heavy and opaque life must feel. And I would like to by saying that if God existed, his Liberty would be tell her, “Well, I do believe in God,” and I feel it like so absolute that nobody could be free anymore. Ac- an “emptiness” inside me which allows me to be light, cording to him, our small liberties “demonstrate” that transparent, open, free, in dialogue... there is no Absolute Liberty. Sartre was coherent in It is possible that my atheist companion will say his manner of thinking. As he also was when he de- that she also feels light, transparent, open, free, in duced the radical solitude of every human being. dialogue...Then I know that both of us are experi- But this reasoning contradicts our most direct ex- encing something very similar, never mind the word perience. We live living together (convivir). Others are “God.” She rejects it as a “gap-filling” idol, and I our horizon of possibilities. Our freedom does not end experience it, embrace it, and enjoy it as a “gap” in when the freedom of others begins. It’s the opposite: my existence. only the presence of others can offer us a space for Thus, “God” is a word of changing use and con- liberty, to “exist” (ex-sistere), to “live together”. tent, according to the language and deep attitude of

Is it possible to move from others to the OTHER each one of us. How wise is the old commandment: Aiton by Katharine Translated (God)? Rationally, no. This is because we sense oth- You shall not take the name of God in vain! q 67 January M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2011 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 31 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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69 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 3131 Heb 11, 32-40 / Ps 30 11 Heb 12,1-4 / Ps 21 22 Mic 3,1-4 / Ps 23 John Bosco Mk 5,1-20 Cecilio, Viridiana Mk 5,21-43 Presentation of the Lord Heb 2,14-18 / Lk 2, 22-40 1865: The 13th amendment to the US Constitution 1870: Jonathan Jasper Wright is elected to the Supreme 1976: José Tedeschi, Worker priest, martyr to those in abolishes slavery. Court, the first Black man to reach a position this high shantytowns in Argentina sacerdote obrero, mártir 1980: The Spanish Embassy Massacre in Guatemala City in the United States judiciary. de los «villeros» en Argentina. He was kidnapped – 40 Quichés including Maria Ramirez and Vincente 1932: Agustin Farabundo Martí and companions are and killed. Menchú are killed. executed in massive wave of repressive violence 1982: Syrian troops attack Hamas killing thousands of in El Salvador. civilians. 1977: Daniel Esquivel, pastoral worker with Paraguayan 1989: Alfredo Stroessner, dictator in Paraguay is removed immigrants to Argentina, martyred. in a fierce military coup. 1991: Expedito Ribiero de Souza, president of the Brazilian Union of Rural Workers, is assassinated. February

70 Thursday Friday Saturday 33 Heb 12,18-19.21-24 / Ps 47 44 Heb 13,1-8 / Ps 26 55 Heb 13,15-17.20-21 / Ps 22 Blas and Oscar Mk 6,7-13 Andrés Corsino Mk 6,14-29 Águeda Mk 6,30-34 Ansgar of Hamburg 1794: Liberation of the slaves in Haiti. The first abolitionist 1977: The Somocist police destroy the contemplative 1795: Antonio José de Sucre, South American independence law in Latin America. community of Solentiname, a community committed leader, born in Cumaná, Venezuela. 1927: The Prestes Column takes refuge in Bolivia. to the Nicaraguan revolution. 1929: Camilo Torres, Colombian priest and revolutionary, 1979: Benjamín Didincué, Colombian indigenous leader, 1988: Francisco Domingo Ramos, labor leader, is born. martyred for his defense of the land. assassinated on orders of large landowners in February New Moon: 02h31m in Aquarius 1979: Six workers killed and dozens injured in police attack Pancas, Brazil. on the Cromotex factory in Lima, Peru. 2004: Rebels take over of the city of Gonaïves, Haiti triggering 1981: The Massacre of Chimaltenango (Guatemala). 68 events leading to fall of Aristide government. campesinos are killed. 1992: An attempted State coup in Venezuela.

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 58,7-10 / Ps 111 66 1Cor 2,1-5 / Mt 5,13-16 Paul Miki 1694: Zumbí and companions are besieged in Palmares. Without gunpowder, they fled into the jungle. 1916: Rubén Dario, renowned Nicaraguan man of letters, dies. 1992: Dom Sergio Méndez Arceo, bishop of Cuernavaca, Mexico and Patriarch of Solidarity.

71 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 77 Gen 1,1-19 / Ps 103 88 Gen 1,20-2,4a / Ps 8 99 Gen 2,4b-9.15-17 / Sl 103 Richard Mk 6,53-56 Jerome Emiliani Mk 7,1-13 Miguel Febres Cordero Mk 7,14-23 1756: Armies of Spain and Portugal massacre 1500 Guarani 1712: Slave revolt in New York. Chinese New Year (Yüan Tan). at Caiboaté, RS, Brazil. 1812: Major repression against the inhabitants of the 1977: Agustin Goiburu, Paraguayan doctor, disappeared 1974: Independence of Granada. national holiday. Quilombos of Rosario, Brasil. in Argentina. 1986: Jean Claude Duvalier leaves Haiti alter 29 years of 1817: Juan de las Heras leads an army across the Andes to 1985: Felipe Balam Tomás, missionary, servant to the poor, family dictatorship. join San Martin and liberate Chile from Spain. martyred in Guatemala. 1990: Raynal Sáenz, priest, is assassinated in Izuchara, 1968: Samuel Hammond, Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith Peru. die, and 27 others wound as police fire on civil rights protestors in Orangeburg, South Carolina. February

72 Thursday Friday Saturday 1010 Gen 2,18-25 / Ps 127 1111 Gen 3,1-8 / Ps 31 1212 Gen 3,9-24 / Ps 89 Scholastica Mk 7,24-30 Our Lady of Lourdes Mk 7,31-37 Eulalia Mk 8,1-10 1763: Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Year War with France 1990: Nelson Mandela freed after 27 years in prison. 1541: Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago in Chile. ceding Dominica, Grenada, the Grenadines, Tobago 1998: The communities of Negras del Medio Atrato (Colom- 1542: Orellana reaches the Amazon. and Canada to England. bia) gain collective title to 695,000 Hectares of land. 1545: The conquistadores reach the mines of Potosí, where 1986: Alberto Koenigsknecht, Peruvian bishop and advocate 2006: First woman president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet 8 million indigenous people will die. for the poor, dies in a suspicious car accident. inaugurated. 1809: Abraham Lincoln born in Kentucky, USA. February World Day of the Sick 1817: San Martín defeats the monarchists in Chacabuco. 1818: Independence of Chile. First quarter: 07h18m in Taurus 1894: The Nicaraguan army occupies Bluefields and annexted the Mosquitia territory (Nicaragua). 2005: Dorothy Stang, advocate for the poor and the environment, murdered by land barons at Anapú, Brazil.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 15,16-21 / Ps 118 1313 1Cor 2,6-10 / Mt 5,17-37 Benigno Tibetan New Year. 1976: Francisco Soares, priest, martyred in the cause of justice for the poor in Argentina. 1982: James Miller, a LaSalle brother, is martyred for his commitment the indigenous church in Guatemala.

73 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1414 Gen 4,1-15.25 / Ps 49 1515 Gen 6,5-8;7,1-5.10 / Ps 28 1616 Gen 8,6-13.20-22 / Ps 115 Valentine, Cyril and Methodius MK 8,11-13 Claude Mk 8,14-21 Juliana y Onésimo Mk 8,22-26 1992: Rick Julio Medrano, a religious brother, is martyred in 1600: José de Acosta, missionary, historian and defender 1981: Albino Amarilla, campesino leader and Paraguayan service to the persecuted Guatemalan church of indigenous culture, Peru. catechist, killed by the army. Friendship Day 1966: Camilo Torres, priest, martyr to the struggles for 1985: Alí Primera, Venezuelan poet and singer for justice to liberation of the Colombian people. the Latin American people. 1981: Juan Alonso Hernández, priest and martyr among the 1986: Mauricio Demierre, a Swiss international worker Guatemalan campesinos. and several Nicaraguan campesino women are 1991: Ariel Granada, Colombian missionary, assassinated assassinated by US backed Contras. by guerrillas in Massangulu, Mozambique. 1992: María Elena Moyano, a social activist, martyred for the cause of justice and peace in Villa El Salvador, Peru. 2003: «First World Demonstration»: 15 million people in 600 cities against the war of the United States against Iraq. February

74 Thursday Friday Saturday 1717 Gen 9,1-13 / Ps 101 1818 Gen 11,1-9 / Ps 32 1919 Heb 11,1-7 / Ps 144 / Servite Founders Mk 8,27-33 Simeon Mk 8,34-9,1 Alvaro and Conrad Mt 9,2-13 1600: Giordano Bruno is burned alive by the Inquisition for 1519: Hernán Cortés leaves Cuba for the conquest of 1590: Bernadino de Sahugún, missionary and protector of his freedom of thinking and expression. Mexico. indigenous cultures of Mexico, dies. 1909: Geronimo or Goyaałé a leader of the Apache resistance 1546: Martin Luther dies in Germany. 1861: Serfdom abolished in Russia. to U.S. and Mexican Government incursions on tribal 1853: Félix Varela, Cuban independence fighter, dies. 1990: Students take over traditionally Afro-Mexican lands dies. 1984: Edgar Fernando Garcia, Guatemalan social activist, Tennessee State University demanding equal February 1995: Darcy Ribero, an activist writer, anthropologist and disappeared. economic treatment. Brazilian senator, dies. Full Moon: 08h35m in Leo 1997: 1300 activists of MST march out of São Paulo for Brasilia, for land reform.

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Lev 19,1-2.17-18 / Ps 102 2020 1Cor 3,16-23 / Mt 5,38-48 Eleuthere, Rasmus Jensen 1524: The Mayan Memorial of Solola records the “destruction of the Quiches by the men of Castile.” 1974: Domingo Lain, priest, martyred in the struggle for freedom in Colombia. 1978: Decree 1142 orders Colombia to take into account the language and culture of the indigenous peoples. World Day for Social Justice (U.N.)

75 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2121 Sir 1,1-10 / Ps 92 2222 1Pet 5,1-4 / Ps 22 2323 Sir 4,12-22 / Ps 118 Peter Damian Mk 9,14-29 Chair of Peter Mt 16,13-19 Bartholomew and Policarp, Mk 9,38-40 1934: Augusto C. Sandino, Nicaraguan patriot, executed 1910: U.S. Marines intervene in Nicaragua. Ziegenbalg by A. Somoza. 1943: White Rose members, a German resistance movement, 1903: Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, leased by the United 1965: Malcolm X, Afro-American leader, is assassinated. are executed by Nazis. States “in perpetuity.” 1985: Campesinos are crucified in Xeatzan, during the 1979: St. Lucia gains independence. National holiday. 1936: Elías Beauchamp and Hiram Rosado of the Nationalist on-going passion of the Guatemalan people. 1990: Campesino martyrs in Iquicha, Peru. Party of Puerto Rico execute Coronel Riggs, for the death of four nationalists. 1970: Guyana attains independence, national holiday. February

76 Thursday Friday Saturday 2424 Sir 5,1-10 / Ps 1 2525 Sir 6,5-17 / Ps 118 2626 Sir 17,1-13 / Ps 102 Mathew Apostle, Sergio. Mk 9,41-50 Justo y Valero, Mk 10,1-12 Paula Montal, Alejandro Mk 10,13-16 1821: The Plan of Iguala proclaims Mexican Independence, Isabel Fedde 1550: Antonio de Valdivieso, bishop of Nicaragua, martyr in national Holiday. National Day for the Dignity of the Victims of the Armed the defense of the indigenous people. 1920: Nancy Astor, first woman elected to parliament, gives Conflict, Guatemala. 1885:Berlin Conference divides Africa among European her first speech in London. 1778: Birthday of José de San Martín. powers. 2008: Fidel Castro retires after forty-nine years as the 1980: Military coup in Suriname. 1965: Jimmie Lee Jackson, Black civil rights activist, murdered February President of Cuba. 1982: Tucapel Jiménez, Chilean trade union leader, murdered by police in Marion, Alabama. Last quarter: 23h26m in Sagittarius by Pinochet dictatorship. 1992: José Alberto Llaguno, bishop, inculturated apostle of the 1985: Guillermo Céspedes, activist and revolutionary, martyr Tarahumara indigenous people of México, dies. in the struggle of the Columbian people. 1989: Caincoñen, a Toba, assassinated for the defense of indigenous land rights in Formosa, Argentina. 1990: Electoral defeat of the FSLN in Nicaragua.

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 49,14-15 / Ps 61 2727 1Cor 4,1-5 / Mt 6,24-34 Gabriel de la Dolorosa 1844: The Dominican Republic declares independence from Haiti. National holiday. 1989: Free-market reforms spark protests in Caracas, Venezuela, the «Caracazo». Government repression leaves 400 dead. 1998: Jesús Ma Valle Jaramillo, fourth president of the Commission of Human Rights of Anioquia, Colombia, assassinated. 2005: 40 out of 57 countries, members of the World Covenant against Tobacco are legally bound. 2010: Earthquake in Chile, 8.8 on the Richter scale, leaves 77 500 dead. What Religions Express and Does Not Die With Them Marta Granés cetr.net, Barcelona, Spain It is an accepted fact that in all epochs people of years, became untouchable, fixed, and therefore have had religion, and that throughout the course of eternal. This was possible because the people did history it has changed, not only by the imposition of not have a consciousness of the long process of their some conqueror, but by its own need to adapt itself creation. Our situation is different, now we know that to new forms of life. It is a common phenomenon in mythologies are cultural products to assist the life of human societies. societies and also to orient them in their search for Anthropologists and historians of religion are in the sacred. agreement that we can detect, in all peoples, reli- Academics are in agreement that this change of gions that belong to three types of cultures: those of religion from living through hunting to living from hunter-gatherer cultures, those of agricultural cultu- agriculture meant a great rupture in the manner of res, and those of pastoral cultures. seeing the world and the sacred. The change from The first belongs to the epoch in which humans one society to the other was relatively quick, while lived through hunting, approximately from when su- the change of mythology required more time. Living perior hominids appeared until the reduction in game through hunting implied a certain way of seeing the made it necessary to resort to agriculture in order to world, of sensing it, and of acting in it. The world of survive, which occurred earlier in some places, star- the hunters had its form of organization, family, and ting from 5,000 B.C.E (and which continues until the education, it had its own symbolic body adequate present day in some places). for its culture, and it had its interpretation of the In both societies, religion was transmitted in sacred, its rituals. All of this explained its world and mythological stories that had a double function: on the relationship of individuals with it. And suddenly the one hand to explain the nature of the world and it stopped having meaning, not adequate for the new how humans should act in it (this was the primary reality connected to agriculture. function of the myth: programming the collective); Abandoning hunting in order to become dedicated and, on the other hand, these stories also served to to cultivation meant a rupture of the world. It requi- give a form to what was beyond the human world. red drastic changes in interpersonal relations and in Myths allowed the possibility of understanding, in a the manner of seeing reality, which also affected the manner adequate for the survival of the group, the manner of interpreting the sacred and, consequently, human as much as the sacred; they gave to human rituals. It is easy to imagine the great confusion this minds a vision that went along with a way of living. caused for these peoples--our ancestors--as they be- Myths organized the form of living and they were the gan to recognize that their inherited culture and the guide for the construction of society. For example, values transmitted to them by their ancestors, inclu- the myths and rituals of hunters allowed them to see ding their religion, were ceasing to have meaning and the world in a manner adequate for hunting, and thus be oriented to what they should do in their lives. they were more effective in guaranteeing collective We will provide a small description of the change survival. This mythology was forged little by little, by lived in respect to the sacred in movement. In hun- trial and error, until it arrived at its definitive format. ting societies, life came from killing and eating prey. We can say the same thing about agricultural peoples. If survival depended on them, it was necessary to say This mythology that gave a form to the human that life was present in them, that they were sacred. world and what escapes from human dimensions, the Everything in their world had a relationship with the sacred, was believed to have come from heaven, from survival of the group. Therefore, all reality was equa- the ancestors, from the gods. With this, those myths lly sacred. This was also demonstrated by the lack of and the rituals connected to them (religion), which hierarchy within the group organization. are the slow creation of the people through thousands But when our ancestors began to feed themselves 78 by growing crops, collective organization ceased be- reality. Religion does not escape this condition. Re- ing familial. The right to command was concentrated ligions, as the sum of mythology and rituals, are the in one person while all others had to obey. As we forms of interpreting the sacred in pre-industrialized have stated, myths are configured by the form of life societies. Religions are, therefore, tied to certain of the group; because of this, the sacred in agricul- determined forms of pre-industrial living, and if these tural societies also had to be seen as concentrated in ways of living change, they will also make the forms one entity, in a type of super-individual. Their religion of religions change. changed. They stopped seeing the sacred as permea- Taking a look at our history, we can answer that ting all reality. Instead, they placed it outside of this religion has been a constant, although its forms have world, in the sky, in heaven. varied. This has allowed us to say that in humans This change in respect to the sacred was total. there is the capacity to suspect that the reality that The sacred was displaced to the sky and it was from surrounds us and is within people contains a “some- there that terrestrial things would be ordered. The thing” beyond ourselves. Our ancestors interpreted sacred became distant, far away, and alien to humans. this “something” according the culture in which they Because of this, for the first time in history, it beca- happened to live. Diverse cultures have given this me necessary to depend on the help of intermediaries different forms, but what they all have in common is to interpret divine will. Agricultural societies organi- that they demonstrate humanity’s own capacity to be zed themselves hierarchically in a pyramid of power; able to take note of this dimension that is beyond all in its highest vertex the king was situated, whose culture forms, but that is modeled by it. power came directly from the sky, from heaven. From All of this leads us to conclude that if the chan- him, the entire pyramid extended. All participated in ges that we are living through are related to our own the sacred by obeying their hierarchical superiors. The change in culture, they will also bring with them a rituals that accompanied the new mythology also had change in our form of living, of seeing reality, and to change to be adequate to it. also of interpreting the sacred. Like our distant rela- Some people, ending the epoch of hunting, began tives had to, this new cultural situation will make us to live by keeping herds of animals. For them, there undergo a painful and inconvenient transformation was also a transformation in the manner of seeing that is nevertheless inevitable. But today we have an reality, of coordinating roles between members, and advantage over them: knowing that it is we ourselves of conceiving of the sacred. Their societies were who should deal with the vacuum in which we find tribally structured. Because of this, the sacred was ourselves at the end of pre-industrial culture; nobody connected with their ancestors and prophets. Becau- will save us from outside. Now we know that religions se their survival depended on keeping and breeding are a human construction conditioned by the culture their livestock, they saw death as a threat. Life was of the historical moment and that, because of this, opposed to death. This conception was reflected in when there is a grave change in the culture, there will their mythology, their understanding of the sacred. be a change in religion. The superior was interpreted as divided in two: a good The religious forms of the past were connected divinity, which gave life, and a bad one, which caused to myths and rituals, and these myths are becoming death. The two were always in battle, in a confronta- opaque, read from our culture which is less and less tion that was not unleashed in heaven but upon the agricultural and pastoral in the pre-industrial manner, earth. Here also we can imagine what it meant for less hierarchical, and less authoritarian. It isn’t that the sacred to pass from being in everything, like in we have turned out worse than our ancestors, it is the case of the hunters, to being incarnated in the that our language and that of mythologies belong to struggle of two opposing principles in the heart of different cultures. But we should take the precaution history. today of not ignoring that “spiritual dimension” that This study brings us to discover that all manners exceeds all human cultural expression, which our an- of interpreting the sacred are conditioned by human cestors called God. Forgetting about this would mean forms of survival. They entirely form our vision of trapping ourselves in pure animality. q 79 February M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 28 2011 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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81 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2828 Sir 17,20-28 / Ps 31 11 Sir 35,1-15 / Ps 49 22 Sir 36,1-2a.5-6.13-19 / Ps 78 Román Mk 10,17-27 Rosendo, Albino Mk 10,28-31 Simplicio Mk 10,32-45 1924: The US Marines occupy Tegucigalpa. George Herbert John and Charles Wesley 1985: Guillermo Céspedes Siabato, a lay person committed 1739: British sign a treaty with Jamaican runaway slaves 1836: Republic of Texas declares independence from to Christian to Socialism and to the Base Ecclesial known as Maroons. Mexico. Communities, worker, teacher, poet, assassinated by 1954: Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores 1791: John Wesley dies in England. the army, Colombia. and Andrés Figueroa Cordero attacked the U. S. 1897: Third attack against Canudos, Brazil. 1989: Teresita Ramirez, a sister of the Companions of Mary, House of Representatives demanding Puerto Rican 1901: US Platt Amendment limited autonomy of Cuba as a is assassinated in Cristales, Colombia. independence. condition for eventual removal of occupying troops. 1989: Miguel Angel Benitez, priest, killed in Colombia. 2002: U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan begins. 1963: Goulart proclaims the Workers’ Statute, a step forward 1959: Founding of the CLAR, Latin-American Confederation at the time, Brazil. of Religious. March

82 Thursday Friday Saturday 33 Sir 42,15-26 / Ps 32 44 Sir 44,1.9-13 / Ps 149 55 Sir 51,17-27 / Ps 18 Emeterio, Celedonio, Marino Mk 10,46-52 Casimir Mk 11,11-26 Adrian Mk 11,27-33 1908: Birth of Juan Antonio Corretjer, Puerto Rican poet, 1962: The United Status begins to operate a nuclear reactor 1766: Spanish governor assumes control over former the founder of the Socialist League. in Antarctica. French territory of Louisiana. 1982: Hipolite Cervantes Arceo, Mexican priest martyred for 1970: Antonio Martinez Lagares is assassinated by police 1940: Soviet authorities ordered execution of more than his solidarity with Guatemalan exiles. in Puerto Rico. 25,000 Polish POW’s and elites in Katyn forest. 1982: Emiliano Pérez Obando, judge and delegate of the 1990: Nahamán Carmona, a street child, is beaten to death 1996: 3,000 families effect the Landless Movement’s largest word, martyr of the Nicaraguan revolution. by the police in Guatemala. occupation, Curionópolis, Brazil. 2000: The dictator Pinochet returns to Chile alter 503 days 2004: The Argentinean navy acknowledges for the first time of detention in London. that it carried out torture during the dictatorship. 2005: The WTO condemns the U.S. cotton subsidies that New Moon: 20h46m in Pisces harm free trade. March

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Deut 11,18.26-28.32 / Ps 30 66 Rom 3,21-25a.28 / Mt 7,21-27 Olegario, Rosa de Viterbo 1817: The revolution at Pernambuco, Brazil. 1836 Mexican forces defeat pro-slavery secessionist force at the Battle of the Alamo. 1854: Slavery is abolished in Ecuador. 1996: Pascuala Rosado Cornejo, founder of the self-directed community of Huaycán, Peru, assassinated for standing up to terrorists. 2005: The Argentinean Supreme Court confirms the life sentence of Arancibia Clavel for his assassination of Chilean General Prats in 1974 as a crime against humanity. 83 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 77 Tb 1,3;2,1b-8 / Ps 111 88 Tb 2,9-14 / Ps 111 99 Ash Wednesday Perpetua and Felicity; Thomas Aquinas Mk 12,1-12 John of God Mk 12,13-17 Dominic Savio Joel 2,12-18 / Ps 50 1524: Cakchiquel kings, Ahpop and Ahpop Qamahay were 1782: Nearly 100 Munsee wrongly suspected of collaborating Francisca Romana 2Cor 5,20-6,2 / Mt 6,1-6.16-18 burned to death by Pedro de Alvarado during the with British in Revolutionary War executed by Pennsyl- 1841: U. S. Supreme Court rules on the Amistad case that Spanish conquest of Guatemala. vanian militiamen at Gnadenhutten, Ohio. Africans who had seized control of their slave ship had 1994: Diocesan priest Joaquin Carregal, prophet of justice 1918: Spanish flu pandemic begins. 22 million people been taken into slavery illegally. dies in Quilmes, Argentina will die. 1965: Rev. James J. Reeb, Unitarian minister and civil rights 2009: Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison. International Women’s Day activist, martyred in Selma, Alabama. Established in 1910 in memory of New York workers who 1989: 500 families occupy a hacienda and are forced died on March 8, 1857 while demanding better working out by military police leaving 400 wounded and 22 conditions and the right to vote. detained, Brazil. March

84 Thursday Friday Saturday 1010 Deut 30,15-20 / Ps 1 1111 Isa 58,-9a / Ps 50 1212 Isa 58,9b-14 / Ps 85 Macario Lk 9,22-25 Constantino, Vicente, Ramiro Mt 9,14-15 Inocencio, Gregorio Lk 5,27-32 1928: Elias del Socorro Nieves, Agustinian, Jesus and 1797: Defeated by the English, the Garifunas of Saint Vincent 1930: Gandhi leads Salt March in nonviolent defiance of Dolores Sierra assassinated for proclaiming their are deported to Honduras. British colonial rule. faith in Mexico. 1914: Opening of the Panama Canal. 1977: Rutilio Grande, parish priest, and Manuel and Nelson, 1945: Firebombing of Tokyo results in deaths of more than 1966: Henry Marrow violently dies in a racially-motivated peasants, martyred by the military in El Salvador. 100,000 people, mostly civilians. crime in Oxford, North Carolina. 1994: The Anglican Church ordains a first group of 32 1990: The dictatorship of Pinochet takes a step toward women priests in Bristol. “State-approved” democracy. Patricio Aylwin becomes 2005: Argentina extradites Paul Schaefer to Chile, ex-Nazi president. collaborator with Pinochet in the “Colonia Dignidad,” 2004: Terrorist attack in Madrid leaves 200 dead and accused of disappearances, torture and sexual 1400 injured. abuse of minors. First quarter: 23h45m in Géminis March

First Sunday of Lent Gen 2,7-9;3,1-7 / Ps 50 1313 Rom 5,12-19 / Mt 4,1-11 Rodrigo, Salomón, Eulogio 1957: José Antonio Echeverria, student and Catholic Action activist, dies in the struggle to free Cuba from Batista dictatorship. 1979: Coup d’etat brings the New Jewel Movement to power in Grenada. 1983: Marianela García, lawyer to the poor, founder of the Human Rights Coalition, martyr to justice in El Salvador. 1998: María Leide Amorim, campesina leader of the landless, assassinated in Manaus in revenge for having led an occupation by the Landless Peoples’ Movement. 85 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1414 Lev 19,1-2.11-18 / Ps 18 1515 Isa 55,10-11 / Ps 33 1616 Jon 3,1-10 / Ps 50 Matilde Mt 25,31-46 Louise de Marillac Mt 6,7-15 Raimundo de Fitero Lk 11,29-32 1549: Black Franciscan, Antony of Cathegeró, dies. 1961: The Alliance for Progress is created. 1630 Benkos Biohó, heroic anti-slavery leader, dies in 1795: Garifunas leader Joseph Satuyé killed by British 1986: Pastor Antonio Chaj Solis, Manuel de Jesús Recinos Colombia. colonizers. and evangelical companions are martyred for their 1977: Antonio Olivo and Pantaleón Romero are martyred for 1849: Moravian missionaries arrived in Bluefieds (Nicara- dedication to the poor. their commitment to the land struggle in Argentina. gua) to evangelize the Mosquitia. 1995: General Luis García Meza is sentenced to 30 years in 1997: Declaration of Curitiba: International Day of Action prison for crimes committed following the 1980 military Against Dams and in favor of water and life. coup in Bolivia. This is the first case of the imprisonment 2009: Evo Morales begins to distribute landholdings to of Latin American military involved in coups. Indigenous peoples under provisions of the new Constitution. March

86 Thursday Friday Saturday 1717 Esth 14,1.3-5.12-14 / Ps 137 1818 Ezek 18,21-28 / Ps 129 1919 2Sam 7,4-5a.12-14a.16 / Ps 88 Patrick Mt 7,7-12 Cyril of Jerusalem Mt 5,20-26 Joseph Rom 4,13.16-18.22 / Mt 1,16.18-21.24a 1973: Alexandre Vanucchi, student and Christian activist, 1907: U.S. Marines land in Honduras. 1849: The Quemado Revolution, Brazil. More than 200 assassinated by Brazilian police. 1938: Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas decrees the Blacks proclaim the Liberation of slaves. 1982: Jacobus Andreas Koster “Koos” and fellow journalists nationalization of oil. 1915: Uprising of the Quechuas and the Aymaras in Peru; committed to the truth, are assassinated in El 1981: Presentación Ponce, Delegate of the Word, martyred led by Rumi Maka. Salvador. along with companions in Nicaragua. 1980: First Afro-American Ministry Meeting, in Buena- 1990: María Mejía, Quiche campesino mother involved 1989: Neftali Liceta, priest, martyred along with Amparo ventura, Colombia. in Catholic Action is assassinated in Sacapulas, Escobedo and companions among the poor in Peru. 1982: Argentina’s military landing on South Georgia Island Guatemala. triggers Falklands War with Great Britain. 1991: Felisa Urrutia, a Carmelite nun working with the poor, assassinated in Cauga, Venezuela. Full Moon: 18h10m in Virgo March

Second Sunday of Lent Gen 12,1-4a / Ps 32 2020 2Tim 1,8b-10 / Mt 17,1-9 Serapión 1838: The government of Sergipe (Brazil) prohibits the “Africans” and those suffering contagious diseases from attending school. 1982: Rios Montt leads a State coup, Guatemala. 1995: Menche Ruiz, catechist, popular poet, missionary to base Christian communities in El Salvador, dies. 2003: U.S. lead invasion of Iraq begins without U.N. mandate. Spring equinox in the North, Fall equinox in the South, at 23:21 87 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2121 Dan 9,4b-10 / Ps 78 2222 Isa 1,10.16-20 / Ps 49 2323 Jer 18,18-20 / Ps 30 Filemon and Nicholas Lk 6,36-38 Bienvenido, Lea Mt 23,1-12 Toribio de Mogrovejo Mt 20,17-28 Baha’i New Year 1873: Spanish National Assembly passes law abolishing 1606: Toribio de Mogrovejo, Archbishop of Lima, pastor to the World Forest Day slavery in Puerto Rico. Inca people, prophet in the colonial Church. 1806: Benito Juárez, born in Oaxaca, México. 1980: Luis Espinal, priest and journalist, martyred in the 1976: Maria del Carmen Maggi, Argentine professor and 1937: Ponce massacre, Puerto Rico. struggles of the Bolivian people. martyr for liberating education. 1975: Carlos Dormiak, Salesian priest, assassinated for his 1988: Rafael Hernández, campesino, martyr in the struggle 2003: Rachel Corrie, human rights volunteer, killed by commitment to Liberation, Argentina. for land, Mexico. Isreali bulldozer while protesting the demolition of 1977: Rodolfo Aquilar, a 29 year old parish priest, martyred World Water Day Palestinian homes. in Mexico. 2005: Chile admits to the assassination by the dictatorship 1987: Luz Marina Valencia, nun, martyr for justice among of Carmelo Soria in 1976. the campesinos of Mexico. Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination March

88 Thursday Friday Saturday 2424 Jer 17,5-10 / Ps 1 2525 Isa 7,10-14;8,10 / Ps 39 2626 Mic 7,14-15.18-20 / Ps 102 José Oriol Lk 16,19-31 Annunciation Heb 10,4-10 / Lk 1,26-38 Braulio Lk 15,1-3.11-32 1918: Canadian women gain the vote. 1807: Enactment of Slave Trade Act abolishes slavery in 1989: Maria Gómez, teacher and catechist, killed for her 1976: Argentine ‘Dirty War’ which killed 4,000 and disappeared Great Britain and Ireland. service to the Simiti people in Colombia. 30,000, begins with a military coup. 1986: Donato Mendoza, Delegate of the Word, and 1991: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay sign the Treaty 1980: Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, companions murdered for their faithful work among of Asunción, thus creating the Mercosur. “Saint Romero of the Americas” is assassinated. Nicaragua’s poor. 1998: Onalicio Araujo Barrios and Valentin Serra, leaders of 2004: Kirchner converts the torture centre from the dictatorship the landless movement, executed by large landowners into the Museum to the Memory of Terrorism of the in Parauapebas, Pará, Brazil. Argentinean State: 4,000 assassinated and 30,000 Last quarter: 12h07m in Capricorn disappeared. Visit today the Romero page and his homilies: http://servicioskoinonia.org/romero March

Third Sunday of Lent Ex 17,3-7 / Ps 94 2727 Rom 5,1-2.5-8 / Jn 4,5-42 Ruperto 1502: Columbus lands at Carani, Costa Rica. 1814: Forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat Creek under Red Stick at Battle of Horseshoe Bend in final push to “clear” Alabama of its original peoples. 1984: The Txukahamãe block a main highway demanding their lands in Xingú, Brasil.

89 Religion: An Ambivalent Meaning Pedro A. Ribeiro de Oliveira Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil

Often, history shows religion in the service of the But the meaning of life is far from being simply powerful, but it can also be seen in many struggles a psychological need. When humans ask themselves for liberation. Sometimes, it is on both sides of the “who am I, where do I come from, where am I go- conflict: one part supports the colonial metropolis, ing?,” they do not only seek an individual answer, but and the other supports national movements; in the a meaning for their existence as part of a society. And name of the same God, capital and worker’s struggles this is where the sociological importance of religion are blessed; the Bible itself legitimizes dictatorships is rooted: to the extent that the account of meaning and the popular resistance to them. Let us see what applies to attributes determined by social condition— sociology says about all this. riches, power, prestige—these attributes come to be considered as the result of a divine design that should Religion as Language be accepted with resignation. In this sense, religion As a set of rituals and beliefs, religion is the is a structuring force of society, and, applied to social language that enables communication between the relations, it transforms the “it is like this” into “it human and supernatural. Like any language, it is si- should be this way,” or “it cannot be this way.” multaneously a means of communication and thought. To the extent that religious accounts are dissemi- The interest of sociology in the study of religion lies nated to members of a society, they shape behavior precisely in the fact that it is a system of thought ca- through habits appropriate for maintaining the status pable of making sense of all that exists or could exist. quo. In doing so, religion plays a social and political For religion, everything is inscribed in the mysterious function of legitimizing by enshrining the relation- cosmic order that only it can decipher. Like lovers say, ships of power between groups, genders, classes, or “our love was written in the stars.” Deciphering the ethnicities. The history of our America is replete with meaning of life—“Who am I, where do I come from, examples of how religion was used to maintain the where am I going”—is the proper field of religious order established by the colonizers: whoever dared language. oppose the institutions and established order would To develop its account of meaning, religion uses be against the will of God, interpreted by the hierar- unique categories: sacred and profane, material and chy, of course. spiritual, eternal and temporal, heavenly and earthly, blessing and curse, and other similar pairs. They are Religious Work the foundations of the accounts that will make sense Anyone who only sees this side of religion and of lived experience. The strength of a plausible and does not perceive that, like all historical reality, there compelling account—that is, accepted as true—lies is another side is deceived. Religion is not an auto- in its ability to guide behavior and define good and matic reflex, more or less mystical, of social struc- evil, truth and error. It can make people give their tures or economic interests of a group, as claimed by lives in witness or, conversely, kill those who oppose vulgar materialism, but the result of religious work. truth. But—and this is its weakness—religion only This concept, developed by P. Bourdieu in 1971, has has any force to the extent that its accounts of mean- opened our eyes to the complexity of religion from ing are followed. Hence the need to reinvent those the sociological point of view. Whenever someone, to accounts to address modes of existence in constant make or express a belief, gives a sacred meaning to a change. Religion that limits itself to merely repeat- thing or event and it becomes a ritual or a belief of a ing ancient stories loses credibility, becomes unable group, however small, that person performs religious to influence people, and ends up losing out to other work. Religion should be understood sociologically as religions more relevant to the present moment. a result of religious work that is reproduced over time. 90 It should be noted that this does not negate the pos- their terrestrial suffering, provided they do not rebel. sibility that religious work—which is essentially hu- Whoever does this kind of religious work and produces man—can be the fruit of revelation or divine inspira- a convincing account of meaning receives all the ben- tion, but if we explored this, we would be leaving the efits of the rulers: prestige, honors, major gifts, and field of sociology to enter a discussion of faith. Jesus everything needed for a life without financial worries. of Nazareth, for example, conducted religious work On the dominated side, things are very different, by proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was already because the interest of the oppressed is, above all, present in human history. His followers, in reproduc- that they find liberation. The religious account that ing this announcement, also perform religious work. resonates with them is the one that is based on the Other prophets and priests, in teaching other doc- hope of liberation. But who is going to do this kind trines, also do religious work. And it is not sociology’s of religious work? Unlike the rulers, the ruled do not role to say which of them is the result of inspiration have the economic resources to hire people to devel- or which is the truest. op this account in a systematic, professional, and eru- By being an account of meaning, the fruit of a dite way. In general, the oppressed can only count on religious work, religion is conditioned by the social their own members or people who, although from the place of its producer. Proclaiming the Kingdom of God dominant groups, have made an option for the poor, living among peasants and artisans of Galilee is not as a social class option, that is, they put themselves the same as being a priest in the temple of Jerusalem at the service of others. Therefore, the accounts gen- ... Or, using a current example, two religious sisters of erated from the dominated side general come about in the same congregation probably announce the Gospel the form of religious self-production: people without very differently if one lives in a slum and the other in specialized theoretical training but highly sensi- a school that caters to rich students. That condition- tive towards threats to life, who weave tales of truly ing should not be seen as deterministic, but it should revolutionary meaning because they delegitimize the not be underestimated: all religious work is condi- established order, demystify its sacredness, and un- tioned by the social environment in which it is done. cover its hypocrisy. When these popular accounts find theoretical support from intellectuals who have been Religion Faced with Conflicting Interests converted to the cause of the oppressed, this social In any society, there are conflicts of interest be- force is changed so much that it is capable of altering cause not everything that is good for one of its parts these social structures of domination. is good for its others. Because of this, for one group The revolutionary potential of religious narrative to become dominant, it has to convince others that created by the side that is socially dominated fright- its interests coincide with the general interest: the ens the socially dominant forces, who do everything colonizer presents himself as one coming to civilize possible to silence it. The folklorization of popular re- backwards civilizations; the large landowner says that ligions, contempt for indigenous and African religions, he offers work to the unemployed; the man justifies and persecution of liberation theology and interreli- his power by saying he is the protector of the same gious dialogue, are the religious face of a social con- woman that he makes fragile...The strategy is to conflict which has at its root opposing class interests. vince the dominated groups that the established order In conclusion, sociology helps us identify the is also good for them so that they do not rebel. place where religious accounts of meaning either work In this strategy, religion can be very useful for the in favor of those who dominate or those who seek lib- dominating side. In the end, the rich are not satisfied eration: it is the social position of those who do reli- with being rich; they want to feel that they deserve gious work. The same language that legitimates domi- their wealth. They want religion to confirm that they nation can legitimate rebellion; everything depends are rich because God blessed them, because their par- on who is elaborating the accounts and where they ents were observant, or because they were chosen by are doing it. But sociology has to abstain from judg- God to govern the rest of the world. They also want ing who creates the truest account. This is revealed in religion to tell the poor they will be rewarded for practice: “By its fruits the tree shall be known.” q 91 March M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 28 29 30 31 2011 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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93 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2828 2Kings 5,1-15a / Ps 41 2929 Dan 3,25.34-43 / Ps 24 3030 Deut 4,1.5-9 / Ps 147 Sixtus Lk 4,24-30 Beatriz de Silva Mt 18,21-35 Gladys, Juan Clímaco Mt 5,17-19 1750: Francisco de Miranda, Spanish-American revolutionary Juan Nielsen Hauge 1492: The Edict of Expulsion of the Jews issued by Ferdinand is born in Caracas, Venezuela. 1857: Sepoy Mutiny or War of Independence breaks out and Isabella of Spain. 1985: Héctor Gómez Calito, defender of human rights, against British colonial rule in India. 1870: Afro-American men win the vote in the United States: captured, tortured and brutally assassinated in 1904: Birth of Consuelo Lee Corretjer, revolutionary, poet ratification of the 15th amendment. Guatemala. and teacher, leader of the Puerto Rican Independence 1985: José Manuel Parada, sociologist, Santiago Natino, 1988: 14 indigenous Tikunas are assassinated and 23 movement. art student and Mauel Guerrero, labour leader are wounded by the forestry industrialist Oscar Castelo 1967: Oil is brought to the surface for the first time in the assassinated in Santiago, Chile. Branco and 20 gunmen. Meeting in Benjamin Constant, Ecuadorian Amazon. Brasil, they were waiting for the help of FUNAI in the 1985: Brothers Rafael and Eduardo Vergara Toledo, militant face of threats. Christians, martyred in resistance to the dictatorship in Chile. March

94 Thursday Friday Saturday 3131 Jer 7,23-28 / Ps 94 11 Hos 14,2-10 / Ps 80 22 Hos 6,1-6 / Ps 50 Benjamín, Lk 11.14-23 Hugh Mk 12,28b-34 Francis of Paola Lk 18,9-14 Amos, John Dunne April 1 1550: The Spanish Crown orders Spanish to be taught to 1767: Expulsion of the Jesuits from Latin America. 1680: Lisbon abolishes the slavery of Indigenous peoples the Indigenous peoples. 1866: Chile, Bolivia and Peru take arms against Spanish in Brazil, influenced by Antonio Vieira. 1982: The Argentinean army occupies the Malvinas (Falkland) aggression. 1923: The first feminist congress is celebrated in Latin Islands in an attempt to regain control of the archipelago 1987: Roseli Correa da Silva, campesina, run down by a America, in Cuba. from the British who occupied it in 1833. landowner’s truck in Natalino, Brazil. 1964: Military coup against João Goulart. Thus begins 21 1993: 8 European countries undertake a joint strike against years of military dictatorship in Brazil. unemployment and the threat to social victories. 1980: The great strike of metalworkers in São Paulo and 2005: Pope John Paul II dies. the interior begins. 1982: Ernesto Pili Parra is martyred in the cause of peace and justice in Colombia. 1999: Nunavut, a new Canadian territory is formed to protect Inuit culture. April

Fourth Sunday of Lent 1Sam 16,1b.6-7.10-13a / Ps 22 33 Eph 5,8-14 / Jn 9,1-41 Ricardo, Sixto 1948: U.S. President Truman signs the Marshall Plan for the post-war reconstruction of Europe. 1976: Victor Boichenko, Protestant pastor, disappeared in Argentina. 1986: Brazil approved its Plan for Information Technology. It will protect the national industry for several years. 1992: Institutional State coup by Fujimori, Peru. New Moon: 14h32m in Aries

95 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 44 Isa 65,17-21 / Ps 29 55 Ezek 47,1-9.12 / Ps 45 66 Isa 49,8-15 / Ps 144 Gema Galgani Jn 4,45-54 Vincent Ferrer Jn 5,1-3.5-16 Marcelino Jn 5,17-30 Isidore of Seville 1818: Victory by San Martin at Maipu seals the independence Alberto Durero 1775: The Portuguese crown encourages marriages between of Chile from Spain. 1979: Hugo Echegaray, 39 year-old priest and liberation Indigenous people, Blacks and Whites. 1989: Maria Cristina Gómez, a Baptist and women’s rights theologian dedicated to the poor in Peru, dies. 1884: The Valparaiso Agreement. Bolivia cedes Antofagasta to activist, is martyred in El Salvador. 1994: Rwandan genocide begins. Chile thus turning itself into a land-locked country. 1992: Fujimori dissolves congress, suspends the constitution 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, and imposes martial law. Tennessee. 1985: Maria Rosario Godoy, leader of the Mutual Support Group (GAM) in Guatemala, is tortured and murdered along with her 2 year old son. Day of Protest against Child Prostitution April

96 Thursday Friday Saturday 77 Ex 32,7-14 / Ps 105 88 Wis 2,1a.12-22 / Ps 33 99 Jer 11,18-20 / Ps 7 Juan Bta. de La Salle Jn 5,31-47 Dionisio Jn 7,1-2.10.25-30 Casilda, Mª Cleofás Jn 7,40-53 1868: Thomas D’Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers Feast of «Vesakh», Birth of Buddha (566 B.C.E.). Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Confederation is assassinated. 1513: Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain. 1920: The US Marines land in Guatemala to protect U.S. World Health Day 1827: Birth of Ramón Emeterio Betances, a revolutionary citizens. who developed the idea of the Cry of Lares, a Puerto 1948: Jorge Eliécer Gaitán is assassinated in Bogotá, Colombia, Rican insurrection against Spanish rule. sparking the bloody repression of the ‘Bogotazo’. 1977: Carlos Bustos, an Argentinean priest, is assassinated 1952: The Bolivian National Revolution begins a period of for his support of the poor in Buenos Aires. fundamental political and economic reform. World Romani (Gypsy) Day 1945: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor in the Lutheran Confessing Established by the First World Romani Congress Church opposed to Hitler, is executed today. celebrated in London on this day in 1971 April

Fifth Sunday of Lent Ezek 37,12-14 / Ps 129 1010 Rom 8,8-11 / Jn 11,1-45 Ezechiel Miguel Agrícola 1919: Emiliano Zapata, peasant warrior hero of the Mexican Revolution, dies in a military ambush. 1985: Daniel Hubert Guillard, parish priest, murdered by the army in Cali, Colombia 1987: Martiniano Martínez, Terencio Vázquez and Abdón Julián, of the Baptist Church, martyrs to freedom of conscience in Oaxaca, Mexico.

97 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1111 Dan 13,1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62 / Ps 22 1212 Num 21,4-9 / Ps 101 1313 Dan 3,14-20.91-92.95 / Int. Dan 3 Estanislao Jn 8,1-11 Zenón Jn 8,21-30 Martín, Hermenegildo Jn 8,31-42 1945: U.S. forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration 1797: 25,000 Carib people expelled by the British from the 1873: White supremacists murder 105 black and 3 white camp from the Nazis. island of St. Vincent arrive in Trujillo, Honduras. They men in Colfax, Louisiana. 1986: Antonio Hernández, journalist and popular activist, became known as the Garifuna people. 1919: British and Gurkha troops massacre 379 unarmed martyred in Bogotá, Colombia. 1861: The American Civil War begins with Confederate demonstrators in Amritsar, India. 2002: State coup against President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela forces bombarding Fort Sumter, in Charleston, 1999: The trial of 155 police is transferred to Belem. They lasts four days until he is returned to office. Three South Carolina. are accused of the murder of 19 landless people in presidents in 42 hours. 1925: Gathering in Foz de Iguaçú initiates the Prestes Column Eldorado do Carajás, Brazil. 2002: The International Criminal Court begins functioning that will travel 25,000 kilometers in Brazil. despite the opposition of the United States. First quarter: 12h05m in Cancer April

98 Thursday Friday Saturday 1414 Gen 17,3-9 / Ps 104 1515 Jer 20,10-13 / Ps 17 1616 Ezek 37,21-28 / Int. Jer 31 Telmo Jn 8,51-59 Benedict Joseph Labré Jn 10,31-42 Engracia Jn 11,45-47 1981: In Morazán, El Salvador, 150 children, 600 elderly 1961: The Bay of Pigs invasión, Cuba. 1919: Mohandas Gandhi calls for a non-violent protest people and 700 women die at the hands of the 1983: Indigenous campesino martyrs of Joyabaj, El Quiché, of “prayer and fasting” in response to the Amritsar military in the largest massacre recorded in recent Guatemala. Massacre. Salvadoran history. 1989: Madeleine Lagadec, a French nurse, is tortured 1952: The revolution triumphs: campesinos and miners 1986: Sister Adelaide Molinari is martyred in the struggle of and killed along with Salvadorans María Cristina achieve land reform in Bolivia. the marginalized, Marabá, Brazil. Hernández, nurse, Celia Díaz, teacher. Carlos 1977: The Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, Gómez and Gustavo Isla Casares an Argentinean the Persecuted, the Disappeared and Exiles of Mexico doctor were injured. (EUREKA) is established. 1992: Aldemar Rodríguez, catechist and his companions 2002: Carlos Escobar, Paraguayan Judie, orders the capture are martyred in the cause of youth solidarity in Cali, and extradition of dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who had Colombia. taken refuge in Brasilia. He is accused of the death in 1993: José Barbero, priest, prophet and servant to the 1979 of a leader of the teachers union. poorest brothers of Bolivia. 2007: 32 die in the Virginia Tech massacre, the worse rampage in modern American history. April

Palm Sunday Isa 50,4-7 / Ps 21 1717 Phil 2,6-11 / Mt 26,14-27 Aniceto 1695: † Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet. 1803: Toussaint L’Ouverture, Haitian liberation hero, dies in a French prison. 1990: Tiberio Férnandez and his companions are martyred in Trujillo, Colombia for their defense of human rights. 1996: The Massacre of Eldorado do Carajás, Pará, Brazil. The State military police kill 23 persons. 1998: César Humberto López, of Frater-Paz, is assassinated in San Salvador. International Campesino Day This is the «Labor Day» of campesinos. 99 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1818 Isa 42,1-7 / Ps 26 1919 Isa 49,1-6 / Ps 70 2020 Isa 50,4-9 / Sl 68 Perfecto, Galdino Jn 12,1-11 León, Ema Jn 13,21-33.36-38 Sulpicio Mt 26,14-25 1537: Francisco Marroquín, first bishop ordained in the Olavus Petri 1586: Rose of Lima is born in Lima, Peru. New World, founder of the first schools and hospitals, 1925: U.S. Marines land at La Ceiba, Honduras. 1871: The Brazilian Franciscans free the slaves in all their pastor in Guatemala. 1980: Juana Tum, mother of Rigoberta Menchú, and her convents. 1955: The Conference of Bandung, Indonesia, where the son Patrocino are martyred in the struggle for land 1898: Spanish American War begins. U.S. forces invade Cuba, Non-Aligned Movement is founded. and justice in Quiché, Guatemala. Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. 1955: Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate, dies. 2005: Adolfo Scilingo, condemned in Spain to 640 years of 1980: Indigenous leaders martyred in Veracruz, Mexico. 1998: Eduardo Umaña Mendoza, Colombian lawyer who prison for his participation in the “death flights” during 2010: Reynaldo Bignone is condemned to 25 years in prison fought for human rights and denounced paramilitaries, the Argentinean dictatorship. for crimes against humanity during the dictatorship is assassinated. Pan-American Indian Day in Argentina. Full Moon: 04h44m in Libra April

100 Thursday Friday Saturday 2121 Ex 12,1-8.11-14 / Ps 115 2222 Isa 52,13-53,12 / Ps 30 2323Gen 1,1-2,2 / Gen 22,1-18 / Ex 14,15-15,1 Anselmo 1Cor 11,23-26 / Jn 13,1-15 Sotero, Cayo, Agapito Heb 4,14-16;5,7-9 / Jn 18,1-19,42 Isa 54,5-14 / Isa 55,1-11 / Bar 3,9-15.32-4,4 Mohamed is born. Day of Forgiveness for the World. 1500: Pedro Alvares Cabral lands in Brazil, beginning of the Ezek 36,16-28 / Rom 6,3-11 / Mt 28,1-10 The birth of Rama, Sikh Religion. invasion of the South. George, Toyohico Kagawa 1792: Joaquín da Silva Xavier, «Tiradentes» (Teeth Puller), 1519: Cortés lands in Veracruz with 600 soldiers, 16 horses 1971: Indigenous peoples rise up against nuclear testing that precursor of Brazilian Independence, decapitated. and some pieces of artillery. contaminates the island of Anchitks, Alaska. 1960: Brasilia is established as the capital of Brazil. 1914: U.S. Marines seize the customs house in Veracruz, 1993: César Chávez, Mexican-American labor activist, dies. 1965: Pedro Albizu Campos, Puerto Rican independence Mexico. World Book and Copyright Day leader, dies. 1970: Earth Day first celebrated. Since on this day in 1616 Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, 1971: F. Duvalier dies, Haiti. 1982: Félix Tecu Jerónimo, Achí campesino, catechist and Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare all died. 1989: Juan Sisay, popular artist, martyred for his faith at delegate of the Word, Guatemala. Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. 1997: The army attacks the Japanese embassy in Lima killing 1997: Gaudino dos Santos, Pataxó Indian, burned to death 14 militants of the MRTA occupying it. in Brasilia by several youth. 2009: The remains of Bishop Angelelli are exhumed to confirm the status of his death as a martyr. Mother Earth Day (UN) April

EASTER Sunday Acts 10,34a.37-43 / Ps 117 2424 Col 3,1-4 / Jn 20,1-9 Fidel 1915/17: Death and deportation of almost one and a half million Armenians 1965: 40,000 U.S. soldiers invade the Dominican Republic. 1985: Laurita Lopez, a catechist, is martyred for her faith in El Salvador. 2010: Paul Shaefer, head of the “Colonia Dignidad” in the south of Chile during the dictatorship, dies in prison.

101 The Two Books of God Carlos Mesters São Paulo SP, Brazil In the classroom, the teacher asked: “What is the most God. The same thing happened and continues to hap- important book that God wrote?” Almost in chorus the pen among the peoples of Asia and Africa, among the children replied: “The Bible!” Is that the correct response? Indigenous peoples here in Latin America, among the I. God’s two books peoples of Europe. All peoples of all cultures and religions Saint Augustine used to say: God wrote two books. throughout history have been discovering the traces of The first book is not the Bible, but rather creation, na- God in the Book of their Lives. Like the Hebrew people, ture, life. It is through the Book of Life that God wants they were all searching for ways to express their beliefs to talk with us. God created things by speaking. He said, and convictions in rituals and doctrines, in stories and “Light!” And the light began to exist. Everything that rules, in books and temples, in celebrations and prayers, exists is the expression of a divine word. Every human be- in images and symbols for God, so that they wouldn’t ing is a walking word of God. Are we aware of that? Many lose the richness of this wisdom accumulated across the people look at nature and don’t think of God. At this centuries. Translated by Richard Renshaw by Richard Translated point we don’t pay attention to the fact that we are liv- There is no question here of people thinking their ing in the midst of a book of God and that we are a living religion is better than that of others, nor of a people page in that divine book. Augustine says that it was sin, wanting to convert anyone to their religion. No! In the or rather, our mania for wanting to dominate everything year 2000, in Jerusalem, there was a gathering of prayer and to think that we are the masters of everything that for peace in which three major representatives of the has led us to lose the capacity for contemplation. At this Jews, Christians and Muslims participated. The Grand point we don’t succeed in discovering how God is speak- Rabbi of the Jews was there along with the Pope and ing through the Book of Life. the delegate of the supreme imam of the Muslims. The For that reason—Augustine says—God wrote a “sec- three represented more than three billion human beings! ond book:” the Bible. It wasn’t written to substitute for Each of them said a few words about the meaning of the the Book of Life. On the contrary. It was written to help encounter. John Paul II said something very simple and us better understand the Book of Life and to discover quite important: We are here not to convert others to in it the signs of God’s loving presence. Augustine also our religion, but rather to learn from one another how to said that the Bible allows us to return to a contempla- praise God, how to serve our neighbor and how to defend tive view; it helps us figure out the world and makes the Peace together and so that faith will never be used to universe become once again the revelation of God. It legitimize wars or massacres. makes the Universe return to being what it is: “the First II. The Great Challenge Book of God.” Throughout the history of humanity, there has never How was the Bible written? How did God do it? The been a time where there were so many changes at so text of the Bible didn’t just fall into place by itself from many different levels and in such a short time as during heaven. Across several centuries it slowly came into being these last hundred years. Science is revealing new things as the result of a drawn-out process of interpreting life, about the Universe in the First Book of God, things that history, and nature. Motivated by the desire to encounter neither our ancestors nor Saint Augustine could have God, people gradually discovered the signs of divine pres- imagined or suspected. For that reason, the concept we ence in life and passed them on to future generations. In have today of the Universe is radically different, for ex- the end, the people ended up writing down their discov- ample, from that of the period when the description of eries in a book. That book is the Bible. The Bible presents Creation in the book of Genesis took form. the fruit of a reading that the Hebrew people had of their In former times, we thought the Earth was the center life and history. The Second Book of God, as Augustine of the Universe. Today we have discovered through sci- liked to say, helped them to discover how God spoke in ence that the Earth is no more than a grain of sand in the First Book.... the middle of immense mountains, a drop of water in the All this happened among the People of God whose middle of an ocean. The sun is nothing more than a little heritage we have received as Christians. But we are star lost in the periphery of our galaxy. Today, it appears not the only ones who feel in our hearts the search for what is helping us most to discover the things of God in 102 the Book of Nature is no longer the Bible, as Augustine do we exist? Who made us? What is the meaning of our taught, but rather scientific investigations. For that rea- life? Science and faith should help in the search for a son, many ask: Well then, what should we do with the response. This is the great challenge or mission of the Bible and its obsolete cosmovision? How can it help us two Books of God. interpret this immense Universe that science is laying out III. The Hope That Animates Us before us? Many people can no longer read the Bible and The people of the Bible succeeded in discovering the believe in what it says and teaches. Every time they read presence of God in life and in nature. They said, “The a section of the Bible, the uncomfortable question arises: heavens cry out the glory of God” (Psalm 19). They ad- Is it really like that? mired the grandeur of the Creator and they sang of the Here it is worth returning to a saying of Clement of beauty of Creation in Psalms like 8, 19, 46, 104, 136, Alexandria in the fourth century. He said that “God saved 139, and 148. the Jews in a Jewish way, the Greeks in a Greek way, These psalms give us an idea of what faith in the cre- and the Barbarians in a Barbarian way.” And we could ative power of God meant for the oppressed people of the add: the Brazilians in a Brazilian way and the Latinos in exile. For, in reading the Book of Life, it was not enough a Latino way and so on. Just like the Jews, Greeks, and to get information about what happened in the past, Barbarians—each in their own time and culture, through at the origins of the world. It was above all a matter of the persistence of their faith and in the midst of many knowing who God was, who was there standing with them crises—were able to discover signs of the loving presence in the exile, in the depths of the pit, in that obscure of God in their lives, so also are we challenged today to place without light, in that discouragement without a discover the same divine presence in the new situation future... The rediscovery of the creative presence of God that history and science have placed before us. in their lives was like a resurrection of the people that lit Just as science, during the last hundred years, has up their lives and nature itself. helped us read the Book of Nature better, so we should That was and continues to be the help that the Bible, use science to read and interpret the Bible. We cannot the Second Book of God, can, wants, and ought to pro- take the stories of the Bible about the origin of the world vide so that we can better understand the First Book of literally as if all that happened exactly the way it is God, the Book of Life. And this help depends not only written. Fundamentalism is the enemy of truth. We have on scientific investigation but also and above all on the to try to discover the intention, the guiding thread, the interior renewal of our faith and the shared witness to faith convictions that are expressed there. Paul said, “The the Good News of God that Jesus brought us. Much more letter kills, the Spirit is what gives life to the letter.” than the Jews, the Greeks and the Barbarians, today we And not only that. There is more and here lies the have abundant reasons for saying, “Lord, our God, your great challenge. Beyond the Biblical text, beyond doc- presence breaks forth throughout the Earth. The entire trines, dogmas, traditional images of God, including the Universe sings your glory!” More than ever we are invited lovely and revolutionary conclusions of science today, to take up the Second Book of God so that through it (1) there is in the people an obstinate faith that is always we rediscover the loving and creative presence of God in being reborn, even when it is suffocated by a science all that exists, and (2) we rediscover in the incredible that sometimes pretends to be infallible, or by a dogma- discoveries of science, the revelation of God in the Book tism that often thinks it is the owner of the truth. It’s of Life. a question of a mystical intuition, prior to whatever we If they are true to themselves, science and faith lead have in science or in religion. It is a silent voice, one us to be humble, not to pretend that our religion is bet- that is fragile, without words, that rises up from the ter than other religions. They help deepen our Christian depths of the collective unconsciousness of humanity way of experiencing God in life and in nature and help us and says: God exists, is with us, hears us; we depend on share it with others who think differently from us. God. “In God we live and move and have our being. We In that way we are mutually enriched. In this sharing are God’s children” (Acts 17, 28). And Augustine replied, we just might come to have the same experience that Je- “You made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until sus had when he met someone from another culture and they rest in you.” religion: “I assure you I have not found such great faith All religions try to provide a response to this pro- in Israel” (Luke 7, 9). Jesus learned from a pagan. found desire of the human heart that has reasons that reason itself does not know. Today more than ever, with Let’s go back to the teacher’s question: What is the each new generation, those same questions return: Why most important book that God wrote for us? q 103 April M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 25 26 27 28 29 30 2011 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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30 31 104 M T W T F S S M T W T F S S June 1 2 3 4 5 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 27 28 29 30 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 MAY Friday Saturday Sunday 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 13 14 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 27 28 29 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 105 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2525 Acts 2,14.22-23 / Ps 15 2626 Acts 2,36-41 / Ps 32 2727 Acts 3,1-10 / Ps 104 Mark Mt 28,8-15 Anacleto, Marcelino, Isidoro. Jn 20,11-18 Zita, Montserrat Lk 13-35 1667: Pedro de Betancourt, apostle to the poor of 1995: Quim Vallmajó, Spanish missionary, assassinated 1977: Rodolfo Escamilla, a Mexican priest, is murdered by Guatemala, dies. in Rwanda. a death squad targeting social activists. 1974: Carnation Revolution restores democracy to Portugal. 1998: Bishop Juan José Gerardi is assassinated after 1994: First democratic general election in South Africa. 1975: The Indigenous Association of the Argentinean Republic publication of the church report “Guatemala: Never (AIRA) is established. Again’ on massive human rights abuses. Last quarter: 02h47m in Aquarius April

106 Thursday Friday Saturday 2828 Acts 3,11-26 / Ps 8 2929 Acts 4,1-12 / Ps 117 3030 Acts 4,13-21 / Ps 117 Peter Chanel Lk 24,35-48 Catherine of Sienna Jn 21,1-14 Pius V Mk 16,9-15 1688: The Portuguese Royal Letter reestablishes slavery and 1982: Enrique Alvear, bishop and prophet of the Chilean 1803: USA agrees to pay France 60 million francs for its a just war against Indigenous peoples. Church, dies. Louisiana Territory. 1965: Lyndon Johnson orders the invasion of the Dominican 1991: Moisés Cisneros Rodriquez, a Marist priest, martyred 1948: Twenty-one countries sign the founding charter of Republic. due to violence and impunity in Guatemala. the OAS in Bogota. 1985: Cleúsa Carolina Coelho, Religious, is assassinated for 2009: Judge Garzón opens a process to judge those 1977: The Mothers of May Square is formed to witness to defending the Indigenous peoples of Labrea, Brazil. responsible for torture in the Guantánamo prison the violation of human rights in Argentina. 1987: Ben Linder, a development worker, is murdered by during the Bush administration. U.S.-funded Contras in Nicaragua. May

Second Sunday of Easter Acts 2,41-47 / Ps 117 11 1Pet 1,3-9 / Jn 20,19-31 Joseph the Worker Philip and James 1980: Conrado de la Cruz, priest, and Herlindo Cifuentes, catechist, are kidnapped and killed in Guatemala. 1981: Raynaldo Edmundo Lemus Preza from the Guadalupe Christian Base Community of Soyapango, El Salvador, and his friend, Edwin Lainez, are disappeared for their Christian commitment. International Labor Day

107 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 22 Acts 4,23-31 / Ps 2 33 1Cor 15,1-8 / Ps 18 44 Acts 5,17-26 / Ps 33 Athanasius Jn 3,1-8 Philip and James Jn 14,6-14 Ciriaco, Mónica Jn 3,16-21 Day of the Honduran Martyrs (First Sunday of May) 1500: Fray Henrique de Coimbra, first European missionary 1493: Pope Alexander VI issues a papal bull “Inter caetera” 1979: Ten year-old Luis Alfonso Velásquez is murdered by to touch Brazilian soil. dividing the new world between Spanish and Portu- the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua. 1963: The police force in Birmingham, Alabama violently guese crowns. 1997: Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and liberationist repress civil rights protestors. 1521: † Pedro de Córdoba, author of the first catechism author of “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” dies. 1991: Felipe Huete, delegate of the Word, and four in America. 1981: The Indigenous Nations Union is founded in Brazil. companions are martyred during the agrarian reform 1547: † Cristóbal de Pedraza, bishop of Honduras, «Father 1994: Sebastián Larrosa, campesino student, martyr to in El Astillero, Honduras. of the Indigenous peoples». solidarity among the poor, Paraguay. World Press Freedom (U.N.) 1970: Four students die when the Ohio National Guard opens fire on an anti-Vietnam war protest at Kent New Moon: 06h51m in Taurus State University. 2010: Martinez de Hoz, ideological superminister of the dictatorship, is arrested at the age of 84, Buenos Aires May

108 Thursday Friday Saturday 55 Acts 5,27-33 / Ps 33 66 Acts 5,34-42 / Ps 26 77 Acts 6,1-7 / Ps 32 Máximo Jn 3,31-36 Heliodoro Jn 6,1-15 Augusto, Flavia, Domitila Jn 6,16-21 1862: Mexico defeats the French in Puebla. 1977: Oscar Alarjarin, Methodist activist, is martyred in the 1937: Sentencing of Prestes to 16 years of prison, Brazil. 1893: Birth of Farabundo Martí in Teotepeque, Department cause of solidarity in Argentina. 1539: Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, dies. of La Libertad, El Salvador. 1994: The Constitutional Court of Colombia legalizes 1984: Idalia López, 18 year-old catechist and humble servant 1980: Isaura Esperanza, Legion of Mary catechist who “personal doses” of narcotics. of the people, is assassinated by civil defense forces identified with the struggle of the Salvadoran people, in El Salvador. is martyred. 2001: Barbara Ann Ford, a Sister of Charity, is assassinated in Quiché, Guatemala. May

Third Sunday of Easter Acts 2,14.22-33 / Ps 15 88 1Pet 1,17-21 / Lk 24,13-35 Víctor y Acacio 1753: Birth of Miguel Hidalgo, Father of Mexico. 1770: Carlos III orders “the various Indigenous languages to be extinguished and Spanish be imponed.” 1987: Vincente Cañas, a Jesuit missionary, is murdered by people seeking to take land from indigenous people he was accompanying in Mato Grosso, Brazil. 1989: Dutch priest Nicolas van Kleef is assassinated by a soldier at Santa Maria, Panama. International Red Cross Day 109 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 99 Acts 6,8-15 / Ps 18 1010 Acts 7,51-8,1a / Ps 30 1111 Acts 8,1b-8 / Ps 65 Pacomio, Gregorio Ostiense Jn 6,22-29 Juan de Ávila, Antonino Jn 6,30-35 Anastasius Jn 6,35-40 1502: Columbus sails from Cadiz, Spain on his fourth and 1795: José Leonardo Chirino, Afro-American, leads the 1974: Carlos Mugica, priest in the ‘villas miserias’ of Argentina, final voyage to the Caribbean. Coro insurrection of Indigenous and Black peoples, dies in their defense. www.carlosmugica.com.ar 1982: Luis Vallejos, Archbishop of El Cuzco, Peru, committed Venezuela. 1977: Alfonso Navarro, priest, and Luis Torres, altar server, to the ‘preferential option for the poor’ dies in a myste- 1985: Ime Garcia, priest, and Gustavo Chamorro, activist, martyrs in El Salvador. rious ‘accident’ after receiving death threats. are martyred for their commitment to justice and human 1994: Nelson Mandela takes office as President of South development in Guanabanal, Colombia. Africa after the first multiracial elections in the history 1986: Josimo Morais Tavares, priest and land reform of the country. He was S. Africa’s longest serving living advocate, murdered by a large landowner in political prisoner. Imperatriz, Brazil. First quarter: 20h33m in Leo May

110 Thursday Friday Saturday 1212 Acts 8,26-40 / Ps 65 1313 Acts 9,1-20 / Ps 116 1414 Acts 1,15-17.20-26 / Ps 112 Nereo, Aquiles, Pancracio Jn 6,44-51 Fatima Jn 6.52-59 Mathias Jn 15,9-17 Day dedicated to Anastasia, a slave who symbolizes all the 1888: Slavery is abolished in Brazil. 1811: Independence of Paraguay. National Holiday. Afro-Americans who have been raped and tortured to 1977: Luis Aredez, medical doctor, is martyred for his 1980: Massacre of the Sumpul River, El Salvador, where death by White hacienda owners, Brazil. solidarity with the poor of Argentina. more than 600 persons perished. 1957: The ILO adopts Convention 107 on Indigenous and 1998: The headquarters of the Justice and Peace Com- 1980: Juan Caccya Chipana, worker, activist, victim of police Tribal Peoples that protects them. mission of the National Conference of Religious of repression in Peru. 1885: Métis armed resistance to Canadian expansion ends Colombia is invaded by the army. 1981: Carlos Gálvez Galindo, priest, martyred in Guatemala. at Batoche, Saskatchewan. 1988: Campesino martyrs for the cause of peace, Cayara, 1980: Walter Voodeckers, a Belgian missionary committed to Peru. the cause of the campesinos, is martyred in Escuintla, 1991: Porfirio Suny Quispe, activist and educador, martyr to Guatemala. justice and solidarity in Peru. May

Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 2,14a.36-41 / Ps 22 1515 1Pet 2,20b-25 / Jn 10,1-10 Isidro, Juana de Lestonnac 1903: Victoriano Lorenzo, Panamanian guerrilla leader and national hero, is shot at Chiriqui. 1986: Nicolás Chuy Cumes, evangelical journalist, is martyred in the cause of freedom of expression in Guatemala. 1987: Indigenous martyrs, victims of land evictions, Bagadó, Colombia. International Day of Conscientious Objectors

111 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1616 Acts 11,1-18 / Ps 41 1717 Acts 11,19-26 / Ps 86 1818 Acts 12,24-13,5 / Ps 66 John Nepomucene, Ubaldo Jn 10,1-10 Pascal Baylon Jn 10,22-30 Rafaela Mª Porras Jn 12,44-50 1818: King João II welcomes Swiss settlers fleeing hunger 1961: USA begins a commercial blockade against Cuba 1525: Founding of Trujillo (Honduras). in their homeland to Brazil. in reaction to the agrarian reform instituted by the 1781: José Gabriel Condoranqui, Tupac Amaru II, leader 1981: Edgar Castillo, a journalist, is assassinated in Castro government. of an indigenous rebellion in Peru and Bolivia, is Guatemala. 1980: Attack by Sendero Luminoso on a polling station in executed. the town of Chuschi, Peru, marks the beginning of two 1895: Augusto C. Sandino, Nicaraguan patriot, is born. decades of violence and repression. 1950: The National Black Women’s Council meets in Rio World Telecomunication Day de Janeiro. A call to eliminate the enormous imbalance in the production of messages and programs. Full Moon: 11h09m in Scorpio May

112 Thursday Friday Saturday 1919 Acts 13,13-25 / Ps 88 2020 Acts 13,26-33 / Ps 2 2121 Acts 13,44-52 / Ps 97 Peter Celestine Jn 13,16-20 Bernardine of Sienna Jn 14,1-6 Felicia y Gisela, John Eliot Jn 14,7-14 1895: José Martí, Cuban national hero, dies in the struggle 1506: Christopher Colombus dies in Valladolid (Spain). 1897: Gregorio Luperón, independence hero of the Dominican for independence. 1976: Exiled Uruguayan politicians Hector Gutiérrez and Republic, dies in Puerto Plata. 1995: Jaime Nevares dies, bishop of Neuquén, prophetic Zelmar Michellini are murdered in Argentina as part 1981: Pedro Aguilar Santos, priest, martyr, Guatemala. voice of the Argentinean Church. of the U.S. supported Operation Condor. 1991: Irene McCormack, missionary, and companions, are 1997: Manoel Luis da Silva, landless farmer, is assassinated 1981: Pedro Aguilar Santos, priest, martyr to the cause of martyred in the cause of peace in Peru. at São Miguel de Taipu, Brazil. the poor, Guatemala. World Cultural Diversity Day (UN) 1993: Destitution of the President of Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez. 1998: Francisco de Assis Araujo, chief of the Xukuru, is assassinated at Pesqueira, Pernambuco, Brazil. May

Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 6,1-7 / Ps 32 2222 1Pet 2,4-9 / Jn 14,1-12 Joaquina Vedruna, Rita de Casia 1937: Government massacre of members of a messianic community at Caldeirão, Brazil. 1942: Mexico declares war on Axis powers. 1965: Requested by the United States. Brazil sends 280 soldiers to support a State Coup in Santo Domingo. International Day for Biodiversity 22% of mammal species are in danger of extinction as are 23 % of amphibions and 25% of reptiles. Between 1970 and 2005, globaly, biodiversity was reduced by 30%.

113 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2323 Acts 14,5-18 / Ps 113 2424 Acts 14,19-28 / Ps 144 2525 Acts 15,1-6 / Ps 121 Desiderio, Ludwig Nommensen Jn 14,21-26 Vincent of Lerins Jn 14,27-31a Vicenta López Vicuña Jn 15,1-8 1977: Elisabeth Käseman, German Lutheran activist, is 1822: Battle of Pichincha, Independence of Ecuador. Gregory VII martyred in the cause of the poor in Buenos Aires, 1986: Ambrosio Mogorrón, a Spanish nurse, and his 1810: The May Revolution marks the beginning of self-gover- Argentina campesino companions are martyred in the cause of nment in Argentina. 1987: Luis Gutiérrez, priest, dies in Colombia. solidarity in San José de Bocay, Nicaragua. 1987: Bernard López Arroyave, a priest, is martyred by 2008: The constitutive treaty of the Union of South American 2005: Edickson Roberto Lemus, campesino organizer, landowners and Colombian military. Nations (UNASUR) brings together 12 countries of assassinated El Progreso, Honduras. S. America. Last quarter: 18h52m in Pisces Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories May

114 Thursday Friday Saturday 2626 Acts 15,7-21 / Ps 95 2727 Acts 15,22-31 / Ps 56 2828 Acts 16,1-10 / Ps 99 Philip Neri, Mariana Paredes Jn 15,9-11 Augustine of Canterbury Jn 15,12-17 Emilio y Justo Jn 15,18-21 1969: Enrique Pereira Neto, 28 year old priest, martyr for John Calvin 1830: U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs The Indian Re- justice in Recife, Brazil. 1812: Women from Cochabamba join the fight for moval Act, thus paving the way for the forced relocation 1989: Maria Goméz, Colombian teacher and catechist, independence against Spain at the Battle of La of Native Americans from southeastern states. martyred for her commitment to her Simitri people. Coronilla in Bolivia. 1926: A State Coup brings right-wing Salazar to power in 1975: Quechua becomes an official language of Peru. Portugal until his death in 1970. 2008: 98 ex-agents of the DINA, are imprisoned for “Operation 1993: Javier Cirujano, a missionary, is martyred for peace Colombo” in which 119 people were assassinated. and solidarity in Colombia. 2001: The French justice system indicts Henry Kissinger, implicated in the assassination of French citizens under Pinochet. 2004: Central America signs a Free Trade Agreement with the USA, to be ratified by the Congress of each country. May

Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 8,5-8.14-17 / Ps 65 2929 1Pet 3,15-18 / Jn 14,15-21 Maximino, Jiri Tranovsky 1969: The «cordobazo»: a social explosion against the dictatorship of Onganía, en Cordoba, Argentina. 1978: Guatemalan soldiers open fire on Mayan Q’eqchi demonstrators seeking recovery of ancestral lands in Panzos. 1980: Raimundo Ferreira Lima, “Gringo”, a peasant labor union organizer, is martyred in Brazil. 2009: One of the soldiers who executed Victor Jara is detained in Santiago, Chile, after 35 years.

115 Eulogy to Cristina Downing Ernesto Cardenal Managua, Nicaragua Cristina, my mother’s cousin elementary particles was 15 in those days that are not alive? with a delicate waist “the world is as it is” and thin legs I recall we all say and I was 7 years old quantum mechanics has proven it was the period that it is not the way it is of Doña Carmela Noguera or computers would not work wrote Joaquin Pasos Just as we grow older (Doña Carmela, remembered for we ought to un-grow-older evenings at the school there is no symmetry where Cristina shone this asymmetry of time as a student) where did it come from? and it was the period of Greta Garbo where did we come from? RENSHAW by Richard Translated Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, Chaplin children of time the bride of the vanguard poets in the midst of a perishable beauty she didn’t remain a 15 year-old wishing for a lasting beauty? nor I a child the last years If there is a God we are immortal inside four walls and if there isn’t then we aren’t I remembered nothing there is no other Not even who I was no other alternative to being either eternal Babe Ruth, the one known for the home runs or eternally not being that was when I was a child eternity or nothing; there is nothing else perhaps you don’t know who he was only the bit of time when we are alive he died a long time ago only those days already past Dickinson used to say: and there will never be anything else If I am no longer living nothing at all, ever give to the one with a red tie not being for all eternity a crumb on my behalf Merton died One day consciousness The stars will die without heat turned toward itself cold like their surroundings an awareness of itself and Eliot: “everyone falls into the blackness” and unfortunately The black holes also disappear of its death In my poetry workshop The only animal that knows it is going to die of children with cancer Had to be conscious a child wrote that it knew the universe about children who have lost hope And in knowing the universe waiting their turn knew that we would die All of us in the cosmos The appearance of awareness wait our turn was another biological existence Not only knowing but knowing oneself Orphans in the mechanized world not only knowing but knowing that one knows At the mercy of accidents and chance The certainty of death The Ford I get into as fruit of that advance can be that of death The animals know What is life? but not about themselves made of particles to know oneself 116 was to know that we die or a mechanism for the defense of our species The awareness a danger to the species in the face of the paralyzing consequence of the consciousness To be able to survive the certainty of death of death and in spite of that to not have been extinguished That’s how we survive Religions or superstitions Hunter-gatherer there was always faith In the black jungle in immortality without doctors the slightest uneasiness The day will come terrorized when there will be no astronomy and among lions and the heavens will be empty defenseless and nude the galaxies will be separated a walking meal and they will remain alone picking the strawberries without any other in sight looking all around and in each isolated galaxy fearful of death the stars will die out looking at the beautiful stars and when the last one flickers out without understanding them everything will be darkness what might they be? (this is not science fiction) The Hunter-gatherers That’s the way it is Cristina Downing aware of being aware In this cosmos there is no salvation aware of death Except the wounded stag died a biological prodigy and the killer knew - the Incarnation – that he also would die A biological evolution that ended up as God Up there among the branches there was no death We are a single Body the monkey was in the present that of the one risen intensely from among the dead without any past Humanity is one or future organically one There is no death for children if anyone is resurrected if only we were always children! we are all resurrected when I was four years old “If he has not risen, we are screwed” (1 Corinthians 15, 17) I killed a parakeet with a coconut Evolution has a direction and cried out for what I had done moving towards the unity of the universe: (that’s the way I knew about death) the Love belonging to a humanity without loneliness incompatible with total death In the black jungle Everything is set and for that reason we say: where anything can happen “So that the Scriptures might be fulfilled” death is the only It was not prophesized because it would happen certainty we have but it happened because it was prophesized Ever since humanity has existed there have been religions Everyone rises (superstitions if you want) those who are one or perhaps there was faith? in the past future present So we are not extinguished Cristina Downing knowing that we die P r e s e n t ! Or perhaps it will be like being born once again: There is a God or the universe is absurd a new life in a new universe And if there isn’t we die forever The Scriptures say In this sense transcendence would be he had to die an adaptation of evolution in the mind in order to rise again q on religion. Ernesto. this recent and unpublished poem as a contribution to the Agenda essays but a poet. I offer José María: I am not a writer of 117 May M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2011 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 30 31 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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119 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 3030 Acts 16,11-15 / Ps 149 3131 Zeph 3,14-18 / Int. Isa 12,2-6 11 Acts 17,15.22-18,1 / Ps 148 Fernando, Joan of Arc Jn 15,26-16,4a Visitation of Mary Lk 1,39-56 Justin Jn 16,12-15 1431: 19 year old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by a 1986: First meeting of Afro-American pastoral workers in 1989: Sergio Restrepo, Jesuit priest, is martyred in his fight for pro-English tribunal. Duque de Caxias and São João de Meriti, Brazil the liberation of peasants of Tierralta, Colombia. 1961: Dominican dictator, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, is 1990: Clotario Blest dies: first president of the Chilean Labor 1991: João de Aquino, union president of Nueva Iguazú, assassinated. Federation (CUT), Christian labor prophet. Brazil, is assassinated. 1994: Maria Cervellona Correa, Franciscan sister and World Day without Tobacco 2009: General Motors announces the largest suspension defender of the Mby’a people of Paraguay, dies. of payments in the industrial history of the USA with 122,550 million in debts. Partial eclipse of the sun, visible in East Asia and NorthAmerica New Moon: 21h03m in Gemini May

120 Thursday Friday Saturday 22 Acts 18,1-8 / Ps 97 33 Acts 18,9-18 / Ps 46 44 Acts 8,23-28 / Ps 46 Pedro y Marcelino Jn 16,16-20 Charles Luanga Jn 16,20-23a Francisco Caracciolo Jn 16,23b-28 1537: Pope Paul III issues a papal bull condemning John XXIII 1559: El Oidor Fernando Santillán informa de las slavery. 1548: Juan de Zumárraga, bishop of Mexico, protector of 1559: Fernando Santillán, judge, reports on the 1987: Sebastien Morales, evangelical deacon, martyred for the Indigenous peoples. massacres of Indigenous peoples in Chile. faith and justice in Guatemala. 1621: The Dutch West Indies Company gains a mercantile 1980: José Maria Gran, missionary, and Domingo trade charter to aid in colonizing Americas. Batz, sacristan, are martyred in El Quiché, 1758: The Commission on Limits meets with the Yanomami Guatemala. people of Venezuela. 1989: Chinese government violently suppresses Tia- 1885: St. Charles Luanga and companions, Ugandan martyrs, nanmen Square pro-democracy demonstrators patrons of African youth. resulting in thousands of casualties. 1963: Pope John XXIII dies. International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression June

The Ascension of the Lord Acts 1,1-11 / Ps 46 55 Eph 1,17-23 / Mt 28,16-20 Boniface 1573: Execution of Tanamaco, Venezuelan cacique. 1968: Robert F. Kennedy shot in Los Angeles, California. 1981: The first case in history of SIDA is discovered in Los Angeles, USA. 1988: Agustin Ramirez and Javier Sotelo, workers, are martyred in the fight for the marginalized in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2000: The Court of Santiago removes Pinochet’s immunity. He is accused of 109 crimes in the Chilean tribunals and sought internationally. 121 World Environment Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday 66 Acts 19,1-8 / Ps 67 77 Acts 20,17-27 / Ps 67 88 Acts 20,28-38 / Ps 67 Norbert Jn 16,29-33 Roberto, Seattle Jn 17,1-11a Salustiano, Medardo Jn 17,11b-19 1940: Marcos Garvey, Black Jamaican leader, mentor 1494: Castilla and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tor- 1706: A Royal Decree orders the capture of the first of Pan-Africanism dies. desillas, thus negotiating their expansion in the typographer of Brazil, in Recife. 1980: José Ribeiro, leader of the Apuniña people, is Atlantic region. 1982: Luis Dalle, bishop of Ayaviri, Peru, threatened with assassinated in Brazil. 1978: The Unified Black Movement (MNU) is inau- death for his option for the poor, dies in a provoked 1989: Pedro Hernández and companions, indigenous gurated. “accident” that has never been clarified. leaders, martyrs in the struggle for traditional land 1990: Sister Filomena Lopes Filha, apostle of the fave- 1984: Student leader, Willie Miranda, murdered by rights in Mexico. las, is assassinated in Nueva Iguacú, Brazil. Guatemalan military. 1998: White supremacists drag James Bryd Jr. to his death in Jasper, Texas. 2005: After 30 years of struggle, the lands of the campesinos in the Paraguayan Agrarian Leagues are returned to them. June

122 Thursday Friday Saturday 99 Acts 22,30;23,6-11 / Ps 15 1010 Acts 25,13-21 / Ps 102 1111 Acts 11,21b-26;13,1-3 / Ps 97 Efrén, Columbano, Aidan, Bede Jn 17,20-26 Críspulo y Mauricio Jn 21,15-19 Barnabas Mt 10,7-13 1597: José de Anchieta, from the Canary Islands, 1521: The Indigenous people destroy the mission of 1964: Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in a South evangelizer of Brazil, “Principal Father” of the Cumaná (Venezuela) built by Las Casas. African prison. Guarani. 1835: A death penalty without appeal is ordered for 1980: Ismael Enrique Pineda, Caritas organizer, and 1971: Héctor Gallego, Colombian priest, disappeared any slave that kills or causes trouble for the companions are disappeared in El Salvador. in Santa Fe de Veraguas, Panama. owner, Brazil. 1979: Juan Morán, Mexican priest, martyred in defense 1898: U.S. forces land on Cuba during Spanish- of the indigenous Mazahuas people. American War. 1981: Toribia Flores de Cutipa, campesino leader, 1993: Norman Pérez Bello, activist, is martyred for his victim of repression in Peru. faith and his option for the poor. Last quarter: 02h11m in Virgo June

Pentecost Acts 2,1-11 / Ps 103 1212 1Cor 12,3b-7.12-13 / Jn 20,19-23 Gaspar, Juan de Sahagún 1514: The the first time the “requerimientos” are read (to Cacique Catarapa) by Juan Ayora, on the coast of Santa Marta. 1963: Medgar Evers, civil rights activist, assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi. 1981: Joaquin Nevés Norté, lawyer for the Naviraí Rural Workers Union in Paraná, Brazil, is assassinated. 1935: The war over the Paraguayan Chaco ends. 123 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1313 2Cor 6,1-10 / Ps 97 1414 2Cor 8,1-9 / Ps 145 1515 2Cor 9,6-11 / Ps 111 Anthony of Padua Mt 5,38-42 Eliseo, Basil the Great, Mt 5,43-48 Mª Micaela, Vito Mt 6,1-6.16-18 1645: The Pernambucan Insurrection begins with the Gregory Nazienzen, Gregory of Nyssa 1215: Magna Carta sealed by King John of England, affirms aim of expelling Dutch rule from Brazil. 1905: Sailors mutiny aboard the Russian battleship primacy of rule of law. 1980: Walter Rodney, political activist and author of Potemkin demanding political reforms. 1932: Bolivia and Paraguay begin the war over the Chaco How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, is assas- 1977: Mauricio Silva, Uruguayan priest working with region. sinated in Guyana. street sweepers in Buenos Aires, is kidnapped. 1952: Víctor Sanabria, Archbishop of San José de Costa 2000: Argentine President Fernando de la Rua apo- 1980: Cosme Spessoto, Italian priest, pastor, martyr Rica, defender of social justice. logizes for his country’s role in harboring Nazis in El Salvador. 30 years. 1987: Operation Albania: 12 people are assassinated in after World War II. 1983: Vicente Hordanza, missionary priest at the Santiago, Chile, by security forces. 2003: The Supreme Court of Mexico orders the ex- service of the campesinos, Peru. 2005: The Supreme Court of Mexico declares not-binding tradition to Spain of Ricardo Cavallo, a torturer 2005: The Supreme Court of Argentina declares the crime of ex-President Echeverria for genocide due during the Argentinean dictatorship. unconstitutional the laws of “Due Obedience” to the massacre of students in 1971. and of “Full Stop.” Total eclipse of the moon, visible in Europe, at 20h13m Full Moon: 20h13m in Sagittarius June

124 Thursday Friday Saturday 1616 Gen 14,18-20 / Ps 109 1717 2Cor 11,18-21b-30 / Ps 33 1818 2Cor 12,1-10 / Ps 33 Juan Francisco de Regis 1Cor 11,23-6 / Lk 9,11b-17 Ismael y Samuel Mt 6,19-23 Germán Mt 6,24-34 1976: Soweto Massacre claims the life of 172 stu- 1703: Birth of John Wesley, England. 1815: The defeat of the French at the Battle of Waterloo dents when South African police open fire on 1983: Felipe Pucha and Pedro Cuji, campesinos, are ends the Napoleonic era. protestors. martyred in the struggle for land in Culluctuz, 1954: U.S. sponsored invasion of Guatemala seeks to 1976: Aurora Vivar Vásquez, champion of women’s Ecuador. unseat the democratically elected government of labor rights, is murdered in Peru. 1991: End of apartheid in South Africa. Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. World Anti-desertification Day 1997: Brazil approves a law permitting the privatization of Communications. June

The Most Holy Trinity Ex 34,4b-6.8-9 / Int. Dan 3 1919 2Cor 13,11-13 / Jn 3,16-18 Romuald 1764: José Artigas, liberator of Uruguay and father of agrarian reform, is born. 1867: Maximiliano, Emperor imposed on México is executed by a firing squad. 1986: Massacre of El Fronton penitentiary prisoners in Lima, Peru.

125 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2020 Gen 12,1-9 / Ps 32 2121 Gen 13,5-18 / Ps 14 2222 Gen 15,1-12.17-18 / Ps 104 Silverio Mt 7,1-5 Louis Gonzaga Mt 7,6.12-14 John Fisher, Thomas More Mt 7,15-20 Day of the African Refugee. Onésimo Nesib 1534: Benalcázar enters and sacks Quito. 1820: Manuel Belgrano dies, Father of Argentina. 1964: Civil rights activists; James Chaney, Michael Schwerner 1965: Arthur MacKinnon, a Canadian Scarboro missionary, is 1973: Right-wing terrorists open fire on Peronist demonstrators and Andrew Goodman are murdered by racists in assassinated by the military at Monte Plata, Dominican killing 13, near the Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires. Philadelphia, Mississippi. Republic for his defense of the poor. 1979: Rafael Palacios, priest, is martyred for his work with 1980: 27 union leaders from the National Workers’ Central 1966: Manuel Larrain, bishop of Talca, Chile and president of Salvadoran Christian base communities. in Guatemala are disappeared. American military the Latin American bishop’s organization, dies. 1995: Greenpeace wins the struggle to stop Shell and advisors participate. Esso from sinking the petroleum platform, Brent 1984: Sergio Ortiz, seminarian, is martyred during the Spar, into the ocean, thus avoiding the sinking of 200 persecution of the Church in Guatemala. others as well. Andean New Year World Refugee Day (UN) Summer solstice in the North, Winter solstice in the South, at 11:28 June

126 Thursday Friday Saturday 2323 Gen 16,1-12.15-16 / Sl 105 2424 Isa 49,1-6 / Ps 138 2525 Gen 18,1-15 / Int. Lk 1 Zenón, Marcial Mt 7,21-29 Acts 13,22-26 / Lk 1,57-66.80 William, Maximus Mt 8,5-17 1524: The “Twelve Apostles of Spain,” Franciscans, arrive Birth of John the Baptist Confession of Ausburg, Philip Melancton on the coast of Mexico. 1541: Mixton War, Indigenous rebellion against the Spanish 1524: Talks between priests and Aztec wise men with the 1936: Birth of Carlos Fonseca, Nicaragua. sweeps western Mexico. “Twelve Apostles of Mexico.” 1967: Miners and their families die in the massacre of San 1821: Simon Bolivar leads troops in a decisive Battle of 1767: Mexican Indigenous riot against Spanish crown as their Juan in Siglo XX, Bolivia. Carabobo for the independence of Venezuela. Jesuits missionaries are ordered to leave. 1985: Terrorist bomb destroys Air India Flight 182 bound 1823: The Federation of the United Provinces of Central 1975: Martyrs of Olancho: Colombian Ivan Betancourt from Canada to India. It is the largest mass murder America is established but lasts only a short time. and Miguel “Casimiro”, priests, and seven Honduran in Canadian history. peasant companions. Last quarter: 11h48m in Aries June

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Deut 8,2-3.14b-16a / Ps 147 2626 1Cor 10,16-17 / Jn 6,51-58 Pelayo 1541: Violent death of Pizarro. 1822: Encounter between San Martín and Bolívar in Guayaquil. 1945: United Nations Charter signed in San Francisco, California. 1987: Creation of the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Mexico. Internat’l Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking International Day in Support of Torture Victims 127 The «God Spot» in the Brain The Biological Basis of Spirituality Leonardo Boff Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil In all places today we see a great religious effer- Religion offers us instruments so that we can make our vescence. After being defamed, persecuted, and con- lives more spiritual, going beyond what the established demned to disappearance by modern ideologies which religions and churches can offer us. Let’s look at the negate God and transcendence, from the Enlightenment principle facts of this new scientific vision. and culminating in Marxism, religion has resisted it It is known that an advanced frontier of sciences all and today it returns vigorously. Not with ambigui- today is the study of the brain and its multiple intel- ties, which must be criticized. But the phenomenon is ligences. It has arrived at relevant results to understand indisputable. It seems that human beings are tired of the phenomenon. The studies highlight three types of material goods, exalted by propaganda, and also of the intelligence. The first is intellectual, the famous IQ, excess of rationality, which dominates all of our culture or Intelligence Quotient, which was given so much and our professions. importance during the 20th Century. This is analytical It has been very well said that the human being is intelligence, with which we elaborate concepts and do possessed of two hungers: for bread, which is satiable, science. With it we organize the world, states, compa- and for beauty, for transcendence, and for the sacred, nies, all types of bureaucracies, and we solve objective which is insatiable. It is in this second hunger where problems. religion and all spiritual paths situate themselves. They The second intelligence is emotional, popularized have emerged in history and come time and again in especially by the Harvard professor, psychologist, and order to attend to this insatiable hunger. neuroscientist David Goleman, with his well-known Today, the spiritual and religious dimension has book Emotional Intelligence, (EQ=Emotional Quotient). reinforced itself considerably, departing from the world He empirically demonstrated what was the convic- of the sciences of life. Religion is not something re- tion of a long line of thinkers, from Plato through stricted to religious institutions, nor does it result in Saint Augustine and Saint Bonaventure, culminating in something optional. Religions do not have a monopoly. Freud: the foundation of the human being is not reason The spiritual, including the mystical, has a biological (logos) but emotion (pathos). We are, fundamentally, basis. This is why they are present in all human beings. beings of passion, empathy, compassion, and love. In Whether negated or affirmed, they are always there, fact, we only move ourselves when we combine IQ with because they pertain to our constitution in what makes EQ. us human. It is this which the scientists have called the The third is spiritual intelligence. Its recognition, “God Spot” in the brain. with scientific characteristics, derives from very recent It is something permanent, that is always active investigations, from 1990 on, conducted by neurolo- when we are looking for the meaning of life, when we gists, neurophysiologists, neurolinguists, and experts have an experience of love, of solidarity, of profound in magnetic imaging of the brain (who study the mag- peace and communion with everything. It is what netic and electronic fields of the brain). According to makes us enter into prayerful dialogue with God. them, there exists in us--in an empirically verifiable The religions of the world are forms of expressing, manner--another type of intelligence called spiritual through rituals, behavior, and doctrines, this “God (SQ=Spiritual Quotient). Through this intelligence, we Spot.” All have this “thing” in common. But the expres- capture the greater contexts of our lives, creatively sions vary by culture. Taking seriously this “God Spot” break limits, perceive unities, and feel inserted in the in the brain allows us to see the unitary foundation of All, becoming attuned to values, the questions of the all religions more than their legitimate differences. meaning of life, and the topics related to God and tran- This finding allows us to value all this wave of scendence. mysticism and religiosity that is permeating our culture This conscience has its biological base in neurons. and inundating mass media like radio and television. It has been proven that all neurons implicated in a 128 conscious experience oscillate at 40-Hz. When the and peace and confers a sense of purpose for existence. temporal lobes of the brain are exposed to a stimulus This is an irradiation of the activated “God Spot.” that increases this frequency, this unleashes a spiritual Our culture does not facilitate this deepening to- experience of exaltation, of immense joy and happiness, wards the interior. All is directed outward, occupying like someone who is in front of a Presence... our minds and distracting us so we don’t even encoun- Scientists have observed that when religious ter ourselves. themes, God, or the values that deal with the greater The nature of the “God Spot” is to open up dimen- meaning of things, not superficially but with a sincere sions so they are constantly wider, make us see the and profound commitment, are broached, a stimulation greater contexts of our life, and permit us to discover is produced that goes beyond the normal 40-Hz. the conductive thread that unites and binds everything Because of this, neurobiologists like Persinger and together. Only in this way do they have meaning and Ramachandran and quantum physicists like Danah Zohar cease to be a random sequence of superficial feelings have baptized this region of the temporal lobes the and sensations. “God Spot” (see the book by Zohar, SQ: Connecting The “God Spot” nourishes our resistance to doing with Our Spiritual Intelligence, Bloomsbury USA 2000). evil and strengthens us in being able to accomplish the Others prefer to speak of the “mystical mind.” The ex- good and implement values, especially those that that istence of this “God Spot” represents an evolutionary imply openness to the other, protection of life, above advantage of our homo sapiens species. It is the unique all to the most vulnerable, compassion, pardon, and depository of this neurological quality through which unconditional love. we capture the presence of God in the Universe. Finally, we should incorporate a prayerful meditative It does not signify that God is only in this spot in attitude: Or rather, we should place ourselves before the brain...God encompasses all of reality. But the “God God not as someone who is on the border of a terrifying Spot” is an internal organ through which we recognize abyss, but as if we are in the company of a kind father God’s presence in everything and in us. or mother, feeling ourselves embraced like children who Thus evolution took place in such a way that it know they are in the palm of the hand of God. Then produced in us many organs--eyes to see, the nose we can speak with confidence, give thanks for so many to smell, ears to hear, the sense of touch to feel, the graces, beg for light for our searches, or simply turn mouth to eat and speak--and with all these organs we ourselves over to Him/Her without words, in a silence internalize the universe within ourselves. It equally filled with God’s presence. created this internal capacity which gives us access to I would like to say that I myself have developed a God. way, based on the tradition of the Christians of the 2nd If it is like this, in terms of an evaluative process Century of the North of Egypt, combined with methods we could say: the universe has evolved, in thousands of Zen Buddhism. I have called this the “way of sim- of millions of years, in order to produce in the human plicity.” It tries to open ourselves up the Light of the mind the instrument through which it is possible to Most High, that comes upon our heads, penetrates all capture the Presence of God who has always been in the of our body, activating all of the points of concentrated Universe, although not perceptible because it lacked an energy that Easterners call “chakras,” penetrating each adequate conscience. Spirituality pertains to being a pore of our being, transfiguring, alleviating, healing, human being, and the religions do not have a monopoly and opening us up to the Beatific Light that is the Holy on it. Rather, religions are like historical translations of Spirit, like it is called in the liturgical hymn of Pente- the “God Spot.” cost (Meditación de la Luz: el camino de la simplicidad, But it is not enough to say that the “God Spot” is Dabar 2010). The effect of this activation of the “God in the brain. Like everything that is alive, it has to be Spot” is a profound peace that can only come from God, fed and activated continually. We do this, above all, by who integrates Godself with us, who synthesizes with returning towards ourselves and dialoguing with our our heart, who opens us to others and to God Godself. Center and the Profound that is within us. This dialogue Today more than ever we need this spirituality in brings us to listen to messages that conscience sends order to find a real happiness in a time full of contra- us, messages of solidarity, love, comprehension, pardon, dictions, conflicts, and threats to human life and the Translated by Rebecca Chabot Translated and care for everything. This attitude generates serenity life of the Earth, our Common Home. q 129 June M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 27 28 29 30 2011 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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130 M T W T F S S M T W T F S S August 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 29 30 31 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 JULY Friday Saturday Sunday 1 1 2 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 14 15 16 17 18 22 23 24 19 20 21 22 23 24 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 131 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2727 Gen 18,16-33 / Ps 102 2828 Gen 19,15-29 / Ps 25 2929 Peter and Paul Cyril of Alexandria Mt 8,18-22 Ireneus Mt 8,23-27 Acts 12,1-11 / Ps 33 1552: Domingo de Santo Tomás and Tomás de San Martín, 1890: Brazil opens the door to European immigrants; Peter and Paul 2Tim 4,6-8.17-18 / Mt 16,13-19 Dominicans, first bishops of Bolivia, defenders of Africans and Asians can only enter with the 1974: Isabel Peron becomes first female president of Indigenous peoples. authorization of Congress. Argentina after her husband, Juan Peron, falls ill. 1982: Juan Pablo Rodriquez Ran, indigenous priest, is 1918: U.S. marines land in Panama. 1995: Land conflict in São Félix do Xingú, Brazil leaves six martyred in the struggle for justice in Guatemala. 1954: U.S. backed rebels overthrow the legally elected farmers and a policeman dead. 1986: The International Tribunal of the Hague declares Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz. 1997: The three “intellectual authors” of the assassination of the USA “guilty of violating International Law for its 2001: Vladimiro Montesinos enters the prison at the Josimo Tavares are condemned (Brazil, 1986). aggression against Nicaragua.” Naval Base of El Callao, Peru. 2007: Brazilian military police anti-drug action results in the Complexo do Alemão massacre in Rio de Janeiro. June

132 Thursday Friday Saturday 3030 Gen 22,1-19 / Ps 114 11 Deut 7,6-11 / Ps 102 22 Isa 61,9-11 / Int. 1Sam 2 Protomartyrs of Roma Mt 9,1-8 Casto, Secundino, Aarón 1Jn 4,7-16 / Mt 11,25-30 Vidal, Marcial Lk 2,41-51 John Olaf Wallin Catherine Winkworth, John Mason Neale 1617: Rebellion of the Tupinambas (Brazil). Day of the Guatemalan Martyrs (previously, Day of the Army) Canadian National Holiday 1823: Defeat of loyalists to the Portuguese crown in the 1520: “Sad Night,” defeat of the conquistadores in Mexico. 1974: Juan Domingo Perón, three times president of province of Bahia leads to Brazilian monarchy. 1927: A.C. Sandino issues his ‘Political Manifest’ in Nicaragua. Argentina, dies. 1917: White rioters burned entire black sections of East St. 1975: Dionisio Frias, a peasant, is martyred in the struggle 1981: Tulio Maruzzo, Italian priest and Luis Navarrete, Louis, Illinois shooting the inhabitants as they try to for land in the Dominican Republic. catechist, are martyred in Guatemala. escape. 48 die. 1978: Hermógenes López, founder of Rural Catholic Action, 1990: Mariano Delauney, teacher, is martyred in the cause 1925: African revolutionary, Lumunba, is born. martyr to the campesinos, Guatemala. of liberation education in Haiti. 1991: First legal Conference of the African National Congress, 2008: Manuel Contreras, ex- police chief of the during the 2002: The International Criminal Court becomes operational South Africa, alter 30 years. dictatorship is condemned to two life sentences for the in spite of US opposition. assassination in 1974 of the former chief commander Partial eclipse of the sun, of the Chilean Army, Carlos Prats and his wife, in visible in S of the Indian Ocean. Buenos Aires. Seven other agents of the DINA were New Moon: 08h54m in Cancer also condemned. July

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Zech 9,9-10 / Ps 144 33 Rom 8,9.11-13 / Mt 11,25-30 Thomas the Apostle 1848: Denmark frees the slaves in their West Indian colony. 1951: The Aflonso Arinos law is approved in Brazil. Discrimination because of race, color and religion is condemned as a contravention. 1978: Pablo Marcano García and Nydia Cuevas occupy the Consulate of Chile in San Juan to denounce the absurdity of celebrating the independence of the United States while denying the same to Puerto Rico. 1987: Tomás Zavaleta, a Salvadoran Franciscan, is martyred in Nicaragua. 133 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 44 Gen 28,10-22a / Ps 90 55 Gen 32,22-32 / Ps 16 66 Gen 41,55-57;42,5-7.17-24a / Ps 32 Elizabeth of Portugal Mt 9,18-26 Antonio Mª Zaccaria Mt 9,32-38 María Goretti Mt 10,1-7 1776: Independence of the USA, National Holiday. 1573: Execution of Tamanaco, Indigenous leader, Vene- 1415: John Huss dies, in Czechoslovakia. 1974: Antonio Llido Mengua, a Spanish priest, was zuela. 1907: Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and political activist, disappeared under the Chilean dictatorship of General 1811: Independence of Venezuela, National Holiday. is born. Pinochet. 1920: Bolivia orders land to be given to “naturals.” 1943: Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa dies in Buenos Aires, 1976: Alfredo Kelly, Pedro Dufau, Alfredo Leaden, Salvador 1981: Emeterio Toj, Indigenous co-operative leader, is kidnap- foundress of the Religious of the “Crusades of the Barbeito and José Barletti, martyrs to justice, ped and tortured by Guatemalan security forces. Church.” She founded the first women’s worker’s union Argentina. in Latin America in Oruro (Bolivia). 1998: Neo-Nazis murder civil rights activists Daniel Shersty 1967: Biafran War erupts in Africa, over 600,000 die. and Lin Newborn just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. 1986: Rodrigo Rojas, activist, martyr to the struggle for democracy among the Chilean people. July

134 Thursday Friday Saturday 77 Gen 44,18-21.23b-29;45,1-5 / Ps 104 88 Gen 46,1-7.28-30 / Ps 36 99 Gen 49,29-32; 50,15-26a / Ps 104 Fermín Mt 10,7-15 Eugenio, Adriano, Priscila Mt 10,16-23 Rosario de Chiquinquirá Mt 10,24-33 1976: Arturo Bernal, campesino leader of the Agrarian 1538: Violent death of Almagro. 1793: Upper Canada legislature passes an act prohibiting slavery. Leagues, dies of torture, Paraguay. 1954: Carlos Castillo Armas takes over presidency of 1816: At the Congress of Tucumán the United Provinces of 1991: Carlos Bonilla, a martyr for the right to work, dies in Guatemala after U.S. backed coup. the La Plata River declare their independence from Citalepetl, Mexico. 1991: Martin Ayala, night guard for the Council of Marginal Spain. National Holiday, Argentina. 2005: Coordinated terrorist bombings on London’s transit Communities, murdered by a Salvadoran death squad. 1821: San Martin proclaims the independence of Peru. system kill 52 and injure hundreds. Last quarter: 06h29m in Libra 1880: Joaquín Nabuco founds the Brazilian Society against Slavery that engaged broadly in activities in public places and clubs. 1920: Pedro Lersa, Recife, struggled for the rights of workers. Taken prisoner, he died there. July

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 55,10-11 / Ps 64 1010 Rom 8,18-23 / Mt 13,1-23 Christopher 1509: Birth of Calvin, in France. 1973: Independence of the Bahamas. 1980: Faustino Villanueva, Spanish priest, martyr in the service of the Indigenous people, Guatemala. 1988: Joseph Lafontant, lawyer, martyred in defense of human rights in Haiti. 1993: Rafael Maroto Pérez, priest and tireless fighter for justice and liberty in Chile, dies. 2002: A seven-million-year-old skull is discovered in Chad; oldest known hominoid. 135 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1111 Ex 1,8-14.22 / Ps 123 1212 Ex 2,1-15a / Ps 68 1313 Ex 3,1-6.9-12 / Ps 102 Benedict Mt 10,34-11,1 John Gualbert Mt 11,20-24 Henry Mt 11,25-27 1968: Founding of the American Indian Movement. 1821: Bolívar creates the Republic of Great Colombia. 1900: Juana Fernández Solar, St. Teresa de Jesús de los 1977: Carlos Ponce de Leon, bishop of San Nicolas, Argentina, 1904: Pablo Neruda, Chilean Nobel Literature laureate, Andes, is born, a Chilean Carmelite. is martyred for the cause of justice. is born. 1982: Fernando Hoyos, a Jesuit missionary, and his 15 1995: Bosnian-Serb forces take-over of Srebrenica 1917: General strike and insurrection in São Paulo. year-old altar server are killed in a military ambush leads to the murder of more than eight thousands 1976: Aurelio Rueda, priest, is martyred for his work on in Guatemala. inhabitants. behalf of slum dwellers in Colombia. 1991: Riccy Mabel Martinez raped and assassinated by World Population Day the military, symbol of the struggle of the people of Honduras against military impunity. 2007: The end of legal impunity in Argentina: the Supreme Court declares the amnesty of the repressors void. July

136 Thursday Friday Saturday 1414 Ex 3,13-20 / Ps 104 1515 Ex 11,10-12.14 / Ps 115 1616 Ex 12,37-42 / Ps 135 Francisco Solano, Camilo de Lelis Mt 11,28-30 Bonaventure, Vladimir Mt 12,1-8 Carmen Mt 12,14-21 1616: Francisco Solano, Franciscan missionary, apostle to 1972: Héctor Jurado, a Methodist pastor, is tortured and 1750: José Gumilla, missionary, defender of the Indigenous the Indigenous peoples of Peru. murdered in Uruguay. people, Venezuela. 1630: Hernandarias publishes the first norms for the defense 1976: Rodolfo Lunkenbein, missionary, and Lorenzo Simão 1769: Founding of mission of San Diego de Alcalá marks of the Indigenous people in Paraguay. martyred for the rights of the indigenous in Brazil. expansion of Spanish colonization into California. 1789: The French Revolution begins with the storming of 1981: Misael Ramírez, campesino, community animator and 1976: Carmelo Soria, a Spanish diplomat who granted the Bastille Prison. martyr to justice, Colombia. asylum to opponents of the Pinochet regime, found 1969: The “Football War” breaks out between El Salvador 1991: Julio Quevedo Quezada, catechist, El Quiché, assassinated in Santiago, Chile. and Honduras over the expulsion of Salvadoran settlers assassinated by the State, Guatemala. 1982: The homeless occupy 580 houses in Santo André, São from Honduras. International Day of the Family (U.N.) Paulo, Brazil. Full Moon: 06h39m in Capricorn 2000: Elsa M. Chaney (*1930) dies, outstanding American feminist with studies on women in Latin America. July

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 12,13.16-19 / Ps 85 1717 Rom 8,26-27 / Mt 13,24-43 Alejo, Bartolomé de las Casas 1566: Bartolomé de Las Casas dies at 82, prophet, defender of the cause of Indigenous peoples. 1898: U.S. troops seize Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish American War. 1976: Sugar refinery workers martyred at Ledesma, Argentina. 1980: Bloody military coup in Bolivia led by Luis García Meza.

137 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1818 Ex 14,5-18 / Int. Ex 15 1919 Ex 14,21-15,1 / Int. Ex 15 2020 Ex 16,1-5.9-15 / Ps 77 Arnulfo, Federico Mt 12,38-42 Justa y Rufina, Arsenio Mt 12,46-50 Elías Mt 13,1-9 1872: The great Indigenous Zapoteca, Benito Juárez, dies. 1824: Iturbide, emperor of Mexico, is executed by a firing 1500: A royal document orders the liberation of all 1976: Carlos de Dios Murias and Gabriel Longueville, squad. Indigenous persons sold as slaves in the Peninsula. priests, kidnapped and killed, martyrs to justice in La 1848: Father Marcelino Domeco Jarauta is shot in They are to be returned to The Indies. Rioja, Argentina. Guanajuato for his refusal to cease his resistance 1810: Independence of Colombia, National Holiday. 1982: Over 250 campesinos from around the community of to the U.S. invaders after the peace accord giving 1848: Declaration at women’s rights convention in Seneca Plan de Sánchez are massacred by military as part of the away 40% of Mexican territory was signed. Falls, New York demands women’s legal equality with Guatemalan government’s scorched earth policy. 1979: The Sandinista Revolution succeeds in overthrowing men and the right to vote. 1992: Peruvian military death squad disappears professor the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua. 1923: Doroteo Arango, «Pancho Villa», Mexican General Hugo Muñoz Sánchez and nine students from a and revolutionary, is assassinated. university in Lima. 1924: 200 Tobas and supporters demonstrating for a just wage are machine gunned at Napalpí, Argentina. 1969: In the person of Commander Neil Armstrong, a human being steps onto the moon for the first time. 1981: Massacre of Coyá, Guatemala: three hundred women, elderly persons and children, are killed. July

138 Thursday Friday Saturday 2121 Ex 19,1-2.9-11.16-20b / Int. Dan 3 2222 Cant 3,1-4 / Ps 62 2323 Ex 24,3-8 / Ps 49 Lawrence of Brindisi Mt 13,10-17 Mary Magdalene Jn 20,1.11-18 Bridget Mt 13,24-30 1980: Wilson de Souza Pinheiro, trade unionist and peasant 1980: Jorge Oscar Adur, priest and former president of 1978: Mario Mujía Córdoba, «Guigui», worker, teacher, activist, assassinated in Brasiléia AC, Brazil. JEC youth organization, is kidnapped by Argentine pastoral agent, martyr to the cause of workers in 1984: Sergio Alejandro Ortiz, seminarian, dies in Guatemala. military. Guatemala. 1987: Alejandro Labaca, Vicar of Aguarico, and Inés Arango, 2002: Bartolemeu Morais da Silva, organizer of land occupa- 1983: Pedro Angel Santos, catechist, is martyred in solidarity missionary, die in the Ecuadorian jungle. tions by the poor, is tortured and killed in Brazil. with the Salvadoran people. 1987: Over a hundred peasant supporters of land reform are massacred by a paramilitary force of landowners and junta in Jean-Rabel, Haiti. 1993: 8 street children are assassinated by a death squad while they sleep in the square in front of the church of the Candelaria in Río de Janeiro. Last quarter: 05h02m in Taurus July

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 1Kings 3,5.7-12 / Ps 118 2424 Rom 8,28-30 / Mt 13,44-52 Cristina, Sharbel Makhluf 1783: Simóvn Bolivar is born in Caracas, Venezuela. 1985: Ezequiel Ramin, Colombian missionary, is martyred at Cacoal, Brazil for defending squatters.

139 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2525 Acts 4,33;5,12.27-33;12,2 / Ps 66 2626 Ex 33,7-11;34,5b-9.28 / Ps 102 2727 Ex 34,29-35 / Ps 98 Saint James, Apostle 2Cor 4,7-15 / Mt 20,20-28 Joaquim and Ana Mt 13,36-43 Celestine Mt 13,44-46 1898: The United States invades Puerto Rico. 1503: The Cacique Quibian (Panamá) destroys the city of 1865: First settlers from Wales arrive in the Chubut Valley 1976: Wenceslao Pedernera, campesino pastoral leader, Santa María, founded by Columbas. in southern Argentina. martyr in La Rioja, Argentina. 1847: Repatriated free black settlers from the USA declare 1991: Eliseo Castellano, priest, dies in Puerto Rico. 1980: José Othomaro Cáceres, seminarian and his 13 Liberia’s independence. companions, martyrs El Salvador. 1927: First aerial bombardment in the history of the Continent, 1981: Spaniard Angel Martinez and Canadian Raoul Légère, undertaken by the USA against Ocotal, Nicaragua, lay missionaries, are martyred in Guatemala. where Sandino had established himself. 1983: Luis Calderón and Luis Solarte, advocates for the 1952: Eva Peron, charismatic leader and wife of Juan Peron, homeless, are martyred at Popayán, Colombia. dies of cancer. 1981: Angel Martínez Rodrigo y Raúl José Léger, catequistas 1953: Assault on the military camp of Moncada in Cuba. misioneros laicos, Guatemala. July

140 Thursday Friday Saturday 2828 Ex 40,16-21.34-38 / Ps 83 2929 1Jn 4,7-16 / Ps 33 3030 Lev 25,1.8-17 / Ps 66 Innocent, John Sebastian Bach, Mt 13,47-53 Martha Jn 11,19-27 Peter Chrysólogus Mt 14,1-12 Heinrich Schütz, George Frederic Händel Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethania, Olaf 1502: Columbus reaches Honduras. 1821: Independence of Peru, National Holiday 1811: Miguel Hidalgo, priest and hero of the Mexican 1980: Seventy peasants massacred by the military in San independence struggle, is executed. Juan Cotzal, Guatemala. 1958: Frank Pais, student leader and opponent of the Batista 1981: Stanley Rother, an American priest, is murdered dictatorship in Cuba, is shot by police. in Santiago de Atitlán because of his dedication to New Moon: 18h40m in Leo the poor. 1986: International workers, Yvan Leyvraz (Swiss), Bernd Koberstein (German) and Joël Fieux (French) are assassinated by the Contras in Zompopera, Nicaragua. August

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 55,1-3 / Ps 144 3131 Rom 8,35.37-39 / Mt 14,13-21 Ignatius of Loyola 1981: Omar Torrijos, general and political leader who negotiated the return of sovereignty over the Canal Zone to Panama, dies in a suspicious plane crash. 2002: Pope John Paul II canonized Nahuatl peasant Juan Diego, to whom tradition says Mary, Mother of Jesus, appeared in Mexico.

141 Theism, a useful but not absolute model to ‘imagine’ God José María Vigil Panamá, Panamá

SEEING were no longer necessary, the miracles disappeared, to A long but not eternal history of the idea of “God” the point of becoming unbelievable. Bultmann will say: Anthropologists insist that homo sapiens has been it is not possible to be modern and believe in the world homo religiosus since the beginning. This primate began of traditional spirits. to become “human” when it began to experience the Not only science, also social psychology transforms need to understand the meaning of life, and began to us: the adult human being does not feel at ease with a perceive a spiritual, sacred, and mysterious dimension... paternalistic gap-filler God (Torras, 66). Bonhoeffer will We used to think that this religious dimension say: “God has retired, he has called us to live without meant that there was a necessary relationship with a him, in a lay holiness.” “God,” but now we know it hasn’t always been like this. If in the 18th century atheism began, in the 20th Now we have facts that during all of the Neolithic pe- century, it was multiplied twelve fold: It was the “reli- riod (70,000 to 10,000 b.c.e.) our ancestors worshiped gious” option that increased the most. The “a-theists,” the Great Mother Goddess, confusingly identified with those “without-Gods” who are not people of bad will Nature. The idea of “god” is later, from the age of the who want to fight against God, but people to whom agrarian revolution (about 10,000 years ago). The war- God doesn’t seem credible, or even intelligible, have rior god, masculine, who inhabits the sky and makes increased in number. The classic idea of “God” began to tribal alliances...is a recent idea about the divine, which be questioned. is generalized and was primarily put forward in the New approaches to the question “agrarian” religion. The Western Christianity of the 18th and 19th centu- The Greek concept of God (“theos”) would later mark ries interpreted atheism as anti-clericism, and, in part, the West: it is “theism,” a form of conceiving of religi- this was right. But later it would be recognized that in osity centering everything in the figure of “god.” The another significant way the critical atheists were right: gods live in a world above ours, and they are powerful, “We Christians have obscured more than revealed the but they have human passions. The Greek philosophers face of God” (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes 19). We have would criticize this too human image of the gods. Also defended bad images of God, and now there are many of Christianity would purify its image of God, that would us Christians who recognize that “neither do I believe in continue to be, despite everything, extremely anthro- that God that the atheists refuse to believe in” (Arias, pomorphic: God loves, creates, repents, intervenes, 42). pardons, redeems, saves, has a plan...like us, that, fi- But today we are taking even one more step: the nally, ends up meaning we are created in his image and concept of “God” itself, although purified by bad im- likeness. This all-powerful God, Creator, First Cause, Lord, ages, is a limited concept, and not universally accepted. Judge...remained in the center of the Western religious Further: there are those who believe that certain con- cosmovision, like the North Star of the religious firma- cepts of God are even harmful because they transmit ment around which everything spun. It was not permis- deeply mistaken ideas to Humanity. Baltodano (p. 210) sible to doubt God: Doubt was a sin, against faith. To believes it is urgent to change the image of God in his believe or not believe in God: this was the decisive country, because the common image there is harm- question. ful. The question is new and very serious, “what status Science and modernity clash with God should we give to the concept of ‘God’?” But since the 17th century, the advance of science JUDGING has gone along with the diminishment of “God” in ev- The idea of “God” has its problems erything which had before then had been attributed to We begin by recognizing the following: Him. Grotius said: everything functions autonomously, -the “objectivization” of God: it is a “being”, very etsi Deus non daretur, as if God didn’t exist. Science distinct, but a concrete being, an “individual” who lives discovered the “laws of nature;” the fairies and spirits in the heavens, up there, far away...The immense major- 142 ity of believers believe him to be like this, literally; best, nor is it even always good. -He is a “person”: he loves, pardons, orders, has a There is no need to disqualify “theism” which, for plan...just like us...Isn’t this an anthropomorphism? many people is helpful, even necessary. This is trying to -he is omnipotent, Universal Lord and Judge, reward- recognize that it is only an instrument, and that other er and punisher... a projection of the agrarian system? people may need another model that isn’t theistic. Be- -he exercises and retains the ultimate responsibility lieving or not believing in “god” no longer is the ques- for the course of history (doesn’t this remove us of our tion; what is decisive now is the spiritual experience of responsibility?) everyone person. -he is the Creator: absolutely “transcendent,” com- ACTING pletely different from the cosmos...A radical dualism Whoever feels good in their traditional theistic form that puts the Absolute on one side, and the cosmic real- can keep on with it; nobody should be harassed. ity, drained of all value, on the other? Nevertheless, many people and communities would -he has traditionally been a “tribal” God, of my do well to take up this issue; it isn’t good to be unaware country or my religion, who has “chosen us” and pro- of something just due to laziness. tects us against others, he has revealed the truth to us In general, we lack new images, new metaphors for and gives us a universal mission over others...(?) God; the traditional ones are being spent, and no longer Considered carefully, all of this isn’t anything but work for many people (page 228). one form of imagining God, but a form that for a long Today, an increasing number of people are discov- time has become unacceptable to an increasing number ering that theism is incompatible with their actual of people...who feel that they believe in God, but not in perception of the world, and that outside of theism, this kind of god, not in theos, who wouldn’t be anything paradoxically, they reconcile themselves with the divine more than an agrarian form of imagining-conceiving of dimension of reality, with the Divine Reality, a new name Divinity...God has to be something deeper than what they are more respectful of than God. this traditional faith has imagined as God. Theologians are constantly and clearly moving to- Establishing a distinction wards a post-theist Christianity, although there is still It’s one thing to believe in the Mystery of God, a lot to be done to adequately develop this intuition. in Divinity –ultimate, inexpressible Reality—and its One could be Christian and not be theist, not believe in another thing to believe that this Mystery adopts the “god-theos” but in divine Reality, in Divinity. concrete form of god (“theos”) (a being, up there, all One can—and one should—reread religions beyond powerful...). theism (some are not theistic). Just as the model of Believing in ultimate Reality, without the image of God “god” isn’t indispensable, neither is the classic theis- Ultimate Reality cannot be so simple as this image tic form of religions. We can move beyond theism, but of God-Theos...We cannot confuse what in reality is ulti- not beyond Ultimate Reality. Many people are already mate Reality with our idea of God. Theism is a “model,” making a post-theistic reinterpretation of Christianity, a concrete form of imagining/conceiving of the divine, a in practice and in theory, and it’s useful to familiarize conceptual instrument, a help, something not absolutely ourselves with this. (Spong 216). essential. The spiritual experience of the human being is per- It is a cultural instrument (Marina 222) that has manent, and it continues to deepen, but the images and shown itself to be extremely useful, friendly even; but explications that we have given to ourselves to under- this is not a “description” of ultimate Reality, which we stand and express them have varied, and they will vary, cannot “imagine.” in conformity with our knowledge. It is a human creation. Because of this it has gone The traditional argument over the existence of God through changes and is continuing to change: now it (to believe or not believe in God...) is a discussion that clearly seems evident, but humanity existed for a long doesn’t make sense anymore...the theistic model is not time without it. absolute; it is so traditional that to many it seems in- Today it brings many people up short: they aren’t dispensable, but it really isn’t. The alternative to theism able to accept this form of imaging ultimate Reality. is not atheism, but rather post-theism, or simply, non- They feel that “theism”, imagining ultimate Reality as theism. Both forms are compatible with the spiritual “god” is not the only way of relating to it, nor is it the experience of the human being. q 143 July M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2011 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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144 M T W T F S S M T W T F S S September 1 2 3 4 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 26 27 28 29 30 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Friday Saturday Sunday AUGUST 1 5 6 7 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 13 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 19 20 21 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 145 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 11 Num 11,4b-15 / Ps 80 22 Num 12,1-13 / Ps 50 33 Num 13,1-2.25;14,1.26-30.34-35 / Ps 105 Alfonsus Ligouri Mt 14,13-21 Eusebius Vercelli Mt 14,22-36 Lydia Mt 15,21-28 1917: Frank Little, a mine worker organizer, is tortured and 1943: Prisoners at Nazi extermination camp of Treblinka 1492: Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera on his murdered in Butte, Montana. in Poland revolt. first visit to the Western Indies. 1920: Gandhi begins his civil disobedience campaign 1981: Carlos Pérez Alonso, apostle of the sick and fighter 1960: Niger gains its independence from France. in India. for justice, disappeared in Guatemala. 1980: Massacre of miners in Caracoles, Bolivia, following a 1975: Arlen Siu, 18 year old student, Christian activist, martyr State coup: 500 dead. in the Nicaraguan revolution. 1999: Ti Jan, a priest committed to the cause of the poor, 1979: Massacre at Chota, Peru. assassinated in Puerto Príncipe, Haiti. August

146 Thursday Friday Saturday 44 Num 20,1-13 / Ps 94 55 Deut 4,32-40 / Ps 76 66 Dan 7,9-10.13-14 / Ps 96 John Vianney Mt 16,13-23 Mt 16,24-28 Transfiguration 2Pet 1,16-19 / Mt 17,1-9 1849: Anita Garibaldi, Brazilian heroine and fighter for 1499: Alonso de Ojeda arrives at La Guajira, Colombia. 1325: Founding of Tenochtitlan (Mexico, DF). liberty in Brazil, Uruguay and Italy, dies in a retreat 2000: Carmen Sánchez Coronel, a teacher’s union repre- 1538: Founding of Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. from Rome. sentative, and six others are murdered at a military 1524: Battle of Junín. 1976: Enrique Angelelli, bishop of La Rioja, Argentina, barracks in Sardinata, Colombia. 1825: Independence of Bolivia, National Holiday. prophet and martyr to the poor. 1945: The United States drops an atomic bomb on the civilian 1979: Alirio Napoleón Macías, Salvadoran priest, is machine- population of Hiroshima, Japan. gunned while celebrating Mass. 1961: Kennedy creates the Alliance for Progress. 2006: Julio Simón is condemned as a State terrorist: the first 1962: Independence of Jamaica, National Holiday. case following the abrogation of the laws of “Full Stop” 2000: Argentinean Jorge Olivera is arrested in Italy and and “Due Obedience” in Argentina. charged with the disappearance of a young French woman during the Argentinean military dictatorship. First quarter: 11h08m in Scorpio August

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 1Kings 19,9a.11-13a / Ps 84 77 Rom 9,1-5 / Mt 14,22-33 Sixtus and Cayetan 1819: With the victory of Boyacá, Bolívar opens the way to the Liberation of Nueva Granada (Colombia). 1985: Christopher Williams, evangelical pastor, is martyred for faith and solidarity in El Salvador. 2002: In continuing repression of Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico, José López Santiz, is assassinated in front of his two small sons.

147 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 88 Deut 10,12-22 / Ps 147 99 Deut 31,1-8 / Int. Deut 321010 Deut 34,1-12 / Ps 65 Dominic of Guzman Mt 17,22-27 Fabio, Román Mt 18,1-5.10.12-14 Lawrence Mt 18,15-20 1873: Birth of Emiliano Zapata, campesino leader of the 1945: The U.S.A. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. 1809: First cry for independence in continental Latin America, Mexican Revolution. His call for land reform inspired 1984: Eduardo Alfredo Pimentel, Christian activist for human that of Ecuador, National Holiday. other social struggles globally. rights and against the Argentinean dictatorship. 1974: Tito de Alencar, a Dominican priest, commits suicide 1994: Manuel Cepeda Vargas, a Unión Patriótica senator, 1989: Daniel Espitia Madera, Colombian campesinos leader, as a result of being tortured in Brazil. is assassinated in on-going civil strife in Bogotá, assassinated. 1977: Jesús Alberto Páez Vargas, leader of the communal land Colombia. 1991: Miguel Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strzalkowski, Franciscans movement, kidnapped and disappeared, Peru. 1997: General strike in Argentina, 90% participation. missionaries in Peru, murdered by Sendero Luminoso. 2000: Union leader, Rubén Darío Guerrero Cuentas, 2000: The Supreme Court of Chile removes parliamentary 1995: Military police kill ten landless workers and brutally arrest kidnapped, tortured and murdered by paramilitaries immunity from ex-dictator Pinochet. 192 others in Corumbiara, Rondônia, Brazil. in Guacamayal, Colombia. 2007: The BNP Paribas bank blocks three investment funds: the world economic crisis beings. UN Indigenous Peoples’ Day August

148 Thursday Friday Saturday 1111 Josh 3,7-10a.11.13-17 / Ps 113A 1212 Josh 24,1-13 / Ps 135 1313 Josh 24,4-29 / Ps 15 Clare of Assisi Mt 18,21-19,1 Julian Mt 19,3-12 Polycarp, Hippolito Mt 19,13-15 1898: U.S. forces occupy Mayagüez, Puerto Rico during the 1546: Francisco de Vitoria dies in Salamanca. 1926: Fidel Castro is born near Mayari, Cuba. Spanish-American War. 1952: On orders from Joseph Stalin, 13 of the most prominent 1961: Construction of the Berlin wall. 1972: Last U.S. ground combat force pulled from South Jewish writers in the Soviet Union are murdered. 1999: Colombian journalist and political satirist, Jaime Garzón Vietnam. 1972: After a failed escape attempt, 16 political prisoners Forero, is murdered by right-wing paramilitaries. 1992: The march of 3,000 landless peoples begins in Rio from Rawson, Argentina are executed at the Argentine Full Moon: 18h57m in Aquarius Grande do Sul, Brazil. naval base at Trelew. 1997: The “Asian Crisis” begins and affects finances 1976: 17 Latin American bishops, 36 priests, religious and laity throughout the world. are arrested by the police in Riobamba, Ecuador. Ramadan begins 1981: IBM launches the marketing of personal Computers, a revolution in human life. 1983: Margarita Maria Alves, president of the Rural Union of Alagoa Grande, Brazil, martyr to the earth. UN International Youth Day August

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 56,1.6-7 / Ps 66 1414 Rom 11,13-15.29-32 / Mt 15,21-28 Maximilian Kolbe 1816: Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan Father of the Nation, precursor of independence, dies in prison. 1984: Campesinos martyred at Aucayacu, Ayacucho, Peru. 1985: Campesino martyrs of Accomarca, department of Ayacucho, Peru. 2000: Robert Canarte, union activist, is found dead after being kidnapped two weeks earlier by paramilitaries in Galicia, Colombia.

149 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1515 Rev 11,19a;12,1.3-6a.10ab / Ps 44 1616 Judg 6,11-24a / Ps 84 1717 Judg 9,6-15 / Ps 20 Assumption 1Cor 15,20-27a / Lk 1,39-56 Rock, Stephen of Hungary Mt 19,23-30 Jacinto Mt 20,1-16 1914: The Panama Canal formally opens. An estimated 1819: Calvary charge into peaceful crowd advocating for 1850: José San Martin, Argentine general and key indepen- 27,500 workmen died during French and American parliamentary reform leaves 11 dead and hundreds dence leader, dies. construction efforts. injured in Manchester, England. 1962: Berlin Wall claims its first victim as 18 year old Peter 1980: José Francisco dos Santos, president of the Union 1976: Coco Erbetta, catechist, university student, martyr to Fechter is shot attempting to cross it. of Rural Workers in Corrientes (PB), Brazil, is the struggles of the Argentinean people. 1997: The Landless Peoples’ Movement (MST) occupies two assassinated. 1993: Indigenous Yanomani martyrs in Roraima, Brazil. haciendas in Pontal do Paranapanema, SP, Brazil. 1984: Luis Rosales, union leader, and companions 2005: Roger Schutz, founder of the ecumenical Taizé seeking justice for Costa Rican banana workers movement, is assassinated. are martyred. 2006: Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguayan dictator accused of 1989: María Rumalda Camey, catechist and representative of crimes against humanity, dies.in Brasilia. GAM, captured and disappeared in front of her husband and children, Escuintla, Guatemala. August

150 Thursday Friday Saturday 1818 Judg 11,29-39a / Ps 39 1919 Ruth 1,1.3-6.14b-16.22 / Ps 145 2020 Ruth 2,1-3.8-11;4,13-17 / Ps 127 Helen Mt 22,1-14 John Eudes Mt 22,34-40 Bernard Mt 23,1-12 1527: Cacique Lempira is assassinated during a peace 1936: Federico Garcia Lorca, poet and dramatist, murdered 1778: Birth of the Father of the Chilean Nation, Bernardo conference (Honduras). by Spanish fascists. O’Higgins. 1952: Alberto Hurtado SJ, Chile’s apostle to the poor, dies. 1953: CIA assisted coup overthrows the government of 1940: Exiled Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, is assas- He is canonized in 2005. Iran and reinstates the Shah who then awards 40% sinated by a Stalinist agent in Mexico City. 1989: Luis Carlos Galán, a Colombian presidential candidate, of Iran’s oilfields to U.S. corporations. 1982: América Fernanda Perdomo, a Salvadorian human is assassinated by drug cartel hit men in Bogotá. 1991: Attempted State coup in the USSR. rights activist, kidnapped along with 5 others including 1993: Indigenous Ashaninkas martyrs, Tziriari, Peru. a child. 2000: Two military police in Rondonia are judged guilty of 1998: The U.S.A. bombards Afghanistan and Sudan. the massacre of Corumbiara against the landless, Brazil. August

Twenty-first Sunday Ordinary Time Isa 22,19-23 / Ps 137 2121 Rom 11,33-36 / Mt 16,13-20 Pius X 1680: Pueblo Indians revolt and drive the Spanish from Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1971: Maurice Lefevre, Canadian missionary, is assassinated in Bolivia. Last quarter: 21h54m in Taurus

151 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2222 1Thess 1,1-5.8b-10 / Ps 149 2323 1Thess 2,1-8 / Ps 138 2424 Rev 21,9b-14 / Ps 144 Queenship of Mary Mt 23, 13-22 Rose of Lima Mt 23,23-26 Bartholomew Jn 1,45-51 1988: Jürg Weis, Swiss theologian and evangelical 1821: Spain signs the Treaty of Cordoba granting Mexico 1572: King of France orders massacre of Huguenots. missionary, is martyred in the cause of solidarity with independence as a constitutional monarchy. 1617: Rosa of Lima, patroness and first canonized saint the Salvadoran people. 1833: Slavery Abolition Act passed abolishing slavery in in America. 2000: Henry Ordóñez and Leonardo Betancourt Mendez, the British colonies. 1977: First Congress of Black Cultures of the Americas Colombian teacher, union leaders, are assassinated. 1948: Founding of the World Council of Churches.. 1980: 17 union leaders, meeting on the farm of the Bishop 1975: The National Institute of Indigenous People is created Escuintla, Guatemala, are disappeared. in Paraguay. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and its Abolition August

152 Thursday Friday Saturday 2525 1Thess 3,7-13 / Ps 89 2626 1Thess 4,1-8 / Ps 96 2727 1Thess 4,9-11 / Ps 97 Joseph of Calasanctius, Louis of France Mt 24,42-51 Teresa Jornet Mt 25,1-13 Monica Mt 25,14-30 1825: Independence of Uruguay, National Holiday. 1968: The Conference of Medellin opens. 1828: Independence of Uruguay. 1991: Alessandro Dordi Negroni, missionary promoting human 1977: Felipe de Jesus Chacón, peasant catechist, is 1847: The English Superintendent and the Miskito King dignity, is martyred for his faith, in Peru. assassinated by the military in El Salvador. announce the abolition of slavery in the Atlantic Coast 2000: Sergio Uribe Zuluaga, member of the Teacher’s Union 2000: Luis Mesa, a member of the university professor’s union of Nicaragua. of Antioquia (FECODE), is killed by paramilitaries in (ASPU), is murdered in Barranquilla, Colombia. 1928: Kellogg-Briand Pact signed by sixty nations “providing Medellin, Colombia. for the renunciation of war as an instrument of 2009: The Atorney General of the United States decides to national policy.” investigate cases of possible torture by the CIA during 1987: Héctor Abad Gómez, medical doctor, martyr to the the Bush government. defense of human rights in Medellin, Colombia. 1993: Law 70/93 recognizes the territorial, ethnic, economic and social Rights of the Black communities of Colombia. 1999: Hélder Câmara, bishop, brother of the poor, prophet of peace and hope, dies in Brazil. August

Twenty-second Sunday Ordinary Time Jer 20,7-9 / Ps 62 2828 Rom 12,1-2 / Mt 16,21-27 Agustine 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his famous I have a dream speech before 200,000 at a civil rights rally in Washington, D.C.. 1994: Jean-Marie Vincent, Montfortian priest and co-operative organizer, assassinated in Puerto Principe, Haiti.

153 Religion, Gender and Violence Elsa Tamez San José, Costa Rica There is a gender disequilibrium in the representa- the Western form—in which God is perceived, starting tion of God. It presents itself in masculine categories, from the catechism. Women see and feel in this con- sometimes patriarchal, sometimes not. This disequi- ception the foundation of power and control of God librium impacts women in a concrete way. It affirms over humans, of some beings over others, of men over the transcendence of God as a divinity without gen- women, of humanity over nature, of the rich over the der, but in its concrete manifestation, this God as- poor, of whites over blacks and indigenous peoples. sumes the characteristics of a masculine God. Patriar- The fundamental problem, therefore, is patriarch- chal reality creates a lag within universal theological alism and its hierarchical character. This means that discourse and practices which exclude women. It says masculinity is centrally situated as “the principle of that all, men and women, are created in the image social, cultural, and religious organization.” The fun-

of God, but many times the divine manifestation as damental problem with this principle of social orga- by Rebecca Chabot Translation masculine creates dogmas which promote inequality, nization which provokes exclusion, we repeat, is not as, for example, the tangential fact “Jesus is male” that it is male but that it is absolutely hierarchical. creates a dogma which excludes women from ordained Why do men abuse? According to a document of the ministry. Nevertheless, the tangential fact that he was US bishops, it is not because of a psychiatric disorder. Jewish is not an obstacle for ordaining non-Jewish The document says that “men who abuse women have males. It is a fact that the dominant images of God, convinced themselves that they have a right to do the discursive structures, and the imagery of God, is so...and many abusive men maintain that the woman masculine and patriarchal. is inferior...believe that to be a man means dominat- If this disequilibrium results in the exclusion of ing and controlling women.” women, the images of God as the holder of control Here lies the fundamental problem: “the male is and power do so even more. If the preponderant im- assumed as a superior entity and the woman as infe- age of God is that of male and father, it is because rior.” This phrase, repeated ad nauseum, until worn society itself bases itself on and revolves around this out, does not have an impact: men say, “Again, al- patriarchal axis. Discourses about God express them- ways the same, there is no novelty in the discourse of selves in human language and language brings the women.” And, nevertheless, this simple belief consid- cultural marks of those who express them. The images ered to be truth, assumed consciously or unconscious- of God generally reflect the experiences of those who ly, breathed in all environments, is responsible for evoke them. murders, for the permissiveness and impunity granted Thus, the problem is not necessarily rooted in the by all of society with its institutions, its epistemol- images of God, but because the majority of images re- ogy, its religion, and theology. All of us, men and inforce power and control over others. God as father, women, are touched closely because we know that judge, boss, king of kings and lord of lords invigorate all the educational institutions...and the Church, the the behavior of exerting power and control of some Bible, and theology, are patriarchal. over others. Power and control are the key words that In front of these images, we need to work on help us to understand the images of God that are biblical reflection and theological creativity. If a fun- complicit in violence, and not only against women. damental concept of God is one of love and mercy; if But it is not only these anthropomorphic images one sees God as the principle of mercy, as the theolo- that can be accomplices of violence. Feminist theologian Jon Sobrino says, this principle will bring us to gies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the First paths other than those of power and control. There World share their suspicion of concepts or images of are two dialogues in the Bible that impact and sensi- an all-powerful, omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, tize me to see God as a friend. In the Gospel of John, perfect, immutable God. This is the classical form— Jesus rejects the title of Lord and prefers to be called 154 friend. In the Letter of St. James, the author praises It is appropriate to emphasize that this is not the royal law of love of neighbor and remembers that unique to Western Christian culture. In other patri- God called Abraham a friend when his belief or faith archal societies, like the Aztec, we find something was counted as justice (James 2:23). Of course, we similar. In Nahuatl, for example, we find many god- are not going to reject images of the all-powerful desses, but the majority occupy a lower level , below when they spontaneously arise from our hearts and we the Gods. Coatlicue was sweeping the temple when a express them in doxological form out of pure love; as feather fell from heaven and made her pregnant. This when we say it to one we love, my king or my queen, fact creates a great violence: she, because of the dis- without implying any subjugation. honor—without guilt—is expelled; Huitzipochtly, her Latin American theology, in having the poor as son, the God of War, avenges himself in a bloody form its point of reference, has made an advance in seeing against his sister, the leader, and all the other broth- sensitive dimensions of God, such as compassion and ers and sisters. The earth is created from the murder mercy for those who suffer. Nevertheless, we men and of Coatlicue. Ciuatlcoatl, another goddess, collabo- women of this theology have stayed with patriarchal rates in the creation of humanity by grinding bones categories and images. It is maybe for this reason on the metate s o that her consort, Queztalcoatl can that our biblical-theological discourses are ineffective create humanity. Tlatecutly is an irrepressible, fear- when faced with the murder of women. We are before some goddess and because of this she is thrown out a problem that is epistemologically thick. Brazil- by two gods in order to create the heavens and the ian theologian Ivone Gebara has already, since the earth. This lets loose a cycle of violence. Tlatecutly beginnings of the 90s, manifested a concern about cried in the nights and the priests, out of pity for her, patriarchal theological epistemology in these same offered human sacrifices. Other myths in other cul- liberation theologies we have constructed. “Is it go- tures go in similar paths. With this I want to indicate ing to destroy others in order to rescue the poor in that there is a very profound theological strand in pa- the name of the God of the poor?” Gebara has asked, triarchal civilizations which is necessary to untangle alluding to certain simplistic discourses about the in order to combat these roots which sustain violence liberation of peoples. One of the problems with this against women. paradigm, she argues, is its dualistic perception, its Creating feminine images of God is an important lack of interrelationality, its analytical rationality as step in the equalizing of genders, and each time it exclusive and privileged, its linearity in discourse and helps to diminish violence against women it makes time, in not seeing things in a more complicated and us a little more human and kind, but it is not a guar- holistic form. antee of a relationship of gender equality. In order to In the last 30 years, female theologians have con- put the brakes on violence, at least three things are tributed to theological thought by creating feminine necessary: creating inclusive images, ending the supe- images of God. This has been good, like a kiss to the riority-inferiority paradigm, and promoting respect of heart which needs the tender hands of a loving and the other. sensitive God. It is already common to address God as If the fundamental problem is patriarchal ideol- Mother and Father, trying to remove the patriarchal ogy, then we must depatriarchalize society. This tint of seeing God as only Father. Nevertheless, for all depatriarchalization begins when the superiority-infe- that has been said before, it is not sufficient. Faced riority paradigm is destroyed and at the same time it with this image, we have to question the gendered becomes assumed as true, as something natural, that relationship between these two images: is this Mother we women and men are all equal, though different. image on the same level of equality with God as Fa- Equals in what counts in being human, with the same ther? Because, as we said at the start, the fundamen- rights for each citizen, but different in gender and tal problem which gives free reign to murder, irrespec- comportment. These things are fundamental. Affirm- tive of differences, is the consideration of one—the ing equality is not sufficient; it is necessary to let go father—as superior to the other—the mother, the of believing that to be woman is to be other. In other daughter, the employee. words, it is necessary to respect human otherness. q 155 August M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 29 30 31 2011 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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156 M T W T F S S M T W T F S S October 1 2 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 31 SEPTEMBER Friday Saturday Sunday 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 8 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 18 14 15 16 17 18 19 23 24 25 20 21 22 23 24 30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 157 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2929 Jer 1,17-19 / Ps 70 3030 1Thess 5,1-6.9-11 / Ps 26 3131 Col 1,1-8 / Ps 51 Martyrdom of John the Baptist Mk 6,17-29 Félix, Esteban Zudaire Lk 4,31-37 Raymond Nonatu Lk 4,38-44 1533: Baptism and execution of Inca Atahualpa by Spanish 1985: 300 FBI agents invade Puerto Rico and arrest more than 1925: The U.S. Marines end 10 years of occupation of conquistadors in Peru. a dozen activists struggling for independence. Haiti. 1563: The Royal Tribunal of Quito is created. 1993: A death squad and police execute 21 people in the Rio 1962: Independence of Trinidad and Tobago. 1986: In spite of the prohibition of the Cardinal of Rio de de Janeiro slum of “do Vigário Geral” in Brazil. 1988: Leónidas Proaño, bishop to the Indigenous peoples, Janeiro, the Third Meeting of Black Religious and 1999: East Timor votes for independence in a UN supervised dies in Ríobamba, Ecuador. Priests takes place in that city. referendum. 2002: Adolfo de Jesús Munera López, former Coca-Cola 2000: Insurance worker’s union leader, Moises Sanjuan, is International Day of the Disappeared worker, murdered by paramilitaries in Barranquilla, assassinated by forces believed linked to Colombian (Amnesty International and FEDEFAM) Colombia. military in Cucuta. New Moon: 03h04m in Virgo September

158 Thursday Friday Saturday 11 Col 1,9-14 / Ps 97 22 Col 1,15-20 / Ps 99 33 Col 1,21-23 / Ps 53 Gil Lk 5,1-11 Antolín, Elpidio Lk 5,33-39 Gregory the Great Lk 6,1-5 Night of the ascension of Mohammed: translation from Mecca 1885: White miners massacre 28 Chinese co-workers at 1759: Jesuits are expelled by Lisbon from their Brazilian colony to Jerusalem, from whence he ascended to heaven. Rock Spring, Wyoming. for the “usurpation of the state of Brazil”. 1971: Julio Spósito Vitali, 19 year old student, Christian 2000: Gil Bernardo Olachica, a teacher’s union member 1971: Bernardino Díaz Ochoa, a campesino union activist, martyr to the struggles of the Uruguayan (FECODE) is killed by paramilitaries in Barrancaber- organizer, is murdered in Matagalpa, Nicaragua by people, assassinated by the police. meja, Colombia. Somoza forces. 1976: Inés Adriana Coblo, Methodist, activist, martyr to the 1976: Death of Ramón Pastor Bogarín, bishop, founder cause of the poor, Buenos Aires. of the University of Asunción, prophet in the Church 1978: The “Unión y Conciencia Negra” group emerges, of Paraguay. followed by that of Black Pastoral Workers. 1979: Jesús Jiménez, campesino and Delegate of the Word, is martyred in El Salvador. 2000: Hernando Cuartas, a union activist at a Nestle’s plant, is assassinated in Dosquebradas Risaralda, Colombia. September

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Ezek 33,7-9 / Ps 94 44 Rom 13,8-10 / Mt 18,15-20 Rosalía, Albert Schweitzer 1970: Electoral victory of the Unidad Popular, Chile. 1977: Death of Ernest Schumacher, economic thinker whose book, Small is Beautiful, influenced a generation of environmentalists and community activists. 1984: Andrés Jarlán, French priest, shot by police while reading the Bible in La Victoria, Santiago, Chile. 1995: World Conference on Women, Beijing. 2005: Judge Urso sends Jorge Videla to prison along with 17 other oppressors in the military dictatorship in Argentina. First quarter: 17h39m in Sagittarius 159 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 55 Col 1,24-2,3 / Ps 61 66 Col 2,6-15 / Ps 144 77 Col 3,1-11 / Ps 144 Lawrence and Justinian Lk 6,6-11 Juan de Ribera, Zacarías Lk 6,12-19 Regina Lk 6,20-26 1877: Tasunka witko or Crazy Horse, Lakota leader committed 1522: Juan Sebastian Elcano, Magellan’s second in 1822: “Cry of Ipiranga” marks the independence of Brazil to preserving traditions and values of his people, is command, completes first circumnavigation of the from Portugal, National holiday. killed in Nebraska. globe with one of the original five ships and eighteen 1968: The Medellin Conference ends. 1960: Ajax Delgado, Nicaraguan student leader, is other survivors. 1981: Inaugural national assembly of the “Grupo de Unión assassinated. 1860: Jane Addams, social reformer and first woman to y Conciencia Negra”. 1983: The unemployed hold a sit-in in the Legislative receive the Nobel Peace Prize, is born. 1992: South African troops fire on African National Congress Assembly in São Paulo. 1995: 2,300 landless people occupy the Boqueirão hacienda, demonstrators. Brazil. They will be expelled. September

160 Thursday Friday Saturday 88 Mic 5,1-4a / Ps 12 99 1Tim 1,1-2.12-14 / Ps 15 1010 1Tim 1,15-17 / Ps 112 Nativity of Mary Mt 1,1-16.18-23 Peter Claver Lk 6,39-42 Nicholas of Tolentino Lk 6,43-49 1522: Magellan’s ship, the Juan Sebastián Elcan, completes 1654: Pedro Claver, apostle to black slaves, dies in 1897: Sheriff’s deputies open fire on unarmed immigrant the first trip round the World. Cartagena, Colombia. miners at a peaceful demonstration near Hazleton, 1941: The Nazi siege of Leningrad begins. A million civilian 1613: Uprising of Lari Qäxa, Bolivia (Aymaras and Quichuas Pennsylvania. More than 19 die. and Red Army defenders die. confront the Spanish). 1924: U.S. Marines occupy various cities in Honduras to 1943: Julius Fučík, Czechoslovakian resistance leader, 1990: Hildegard Feldman, a nun, and Ramon Rojas, a support the presidential candidate. tortured and executed by the Nazis. catechist are martyred for their service to Colombian 1984: Policarpo Chem, catechist and co-operative leader, 1974: Ford offers Nixon a “full and absolute pardon for all the peasants. kidnapped and tortured by government forces in crimes he might have committed when he occupied Jewish New Year: 5771 Verapaz, Guatemala. the Presidency.” International Literacy Day End of Ramadan September

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 27,33-28,9 / Ps 102 1111 Rom 14,7-9 / Mt 18,21-35 Proto y Jacinto 1973: State coup in Chile against President Allende. 1981: Sebastiana Mendoza, Indigenous catechist, martyr to solidarity, Guatemala. 1988: Martyrs of the Church of San Juan Bosco, in Puerto Príncipe, Haiti. 1990: Myrna Mack, anthropologist and human rights advocate, is assassinated in Guatemala. 2001: Attack on the Twin Towers, New York. 2008: Massacre of farmers in El Porvenir, Pando, Bolivia, to the orders of industralists and landowners, with the connivencia of the Prefect Leopoldo Fernandez, today in prison. 161 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1212 1Tim 2,1-8 / Ps 27 1313 1Tim 3,1-13 / Ps 100 1414 Num 21, 4b-9 / Ps 77 Leoncio y Guido Lk 7,1-10 John Chrysostom Lk 7,11-17 Exaltation of the Cross Jn 3,13-17 1977: Steve Biko, Black Consciousness Movement leader, 1549: Juan de Betanzos retracts his earlier opinion that 1843: Birth of Lola Rodríguez, author of the insurrectional is martyred in South Africa. Indigenous people are not human. hymn, «la Borinqueña», in the Sept. 23, 1868 insurrec- 1982: Alfonso Acevedo, catechist, martyr in his service to the 1589: Bloody rebellion of the Mapuches, Chile. tion against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. internally displaced persons in El Salvador. 1973: Georges Klein, Arsenio Poupin and 19 others persons 1847: Under U.S. General Winfield Scott, military take control 1989: Valdicio Barbosa dos Santos, head of rural worker’s are shot by soldiers two days after being captured of Mexico City. union, shot at Pedro Canário, Brazil. during the coup, in the Presidential Palace (La Moneda) 1856: Battle of San Jacinto, defeat of the filibusters of William 2001: Bárbara Lee, California congresswoman, votes against in Santiago, Chile. Walker in Nicaragua. granting Bush the power to invade Afghanistan. 1978: The U.N. reaffirms the right of Puerto Rico to 1920: Birth of Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan author, poet, and Full Moon: 09h27m in Pisces independence and free self-determination. activist, writer of exile. 1980: Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, an Argentinean architect and 1992: The First Assembly of the People of God (APD) opens. human rights advocate, jailed and tortured by the The term «macro-ecumenism» is coined. military, receives the Nobel Peace Prize. September

162 Thursday Friday Saturday 1515 Heb 5,7-9 / Ps 30 1616 1Tim 6,2c-12 / Ps 48 1717 1Tim 6,13-16 / Ps 99 Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows Jn 19,25-27 Cornelius and Cyprian Lk 8,1-3 Robert Bellarmine Lk 8,4-15 1810: The «Cry of Pain» in Mexico. 1501: The king authorizes the governor of the Caribbean 1981: John David Troyer, a Mennonite missionary, martyred 1821: Independence of Central America, National Holiday islands to import African slaves. for justice in Guatemala. in all the countries of Central America. 1821: Mexican independence, National Holiday. 1983: Carlos Alirio and Fabián Buitrago, Giraldo Ramirez 1842: Francisco de Morazán, Central American labor leader, is 1931: Founding of the “Frente Negro Brasileño” in São Paulo. and Marcos Marin, campesinos, catechists, are executed by a firing squad in San José, Costa Rica, It will later be closed down by Getúlio Vargas. assassinated at Cocomá, Colombia. 1973: Arturo Hillerns, medical doctor, martyr in his service 1955: Civic-military insurrection that deposes Constitutional 1983: Julián Bac, Delegate of the Word, and Guadalupe to the poor of Chile. President Peron Lara, catechist, martyrs in Guatemala. 1973: Victor Jara, Chilean folk singer, and political activist, 1983: Guadalupe Carney sj, is assassinated by the tortured and shot by military in Santiago, Chile. Honduran army. 1974: Antonio Llidó, Spanish priest, disappears in Pinochet’s World Ozone Day (U.N.) prisons in Chile. 1981: Pedro Pío Cortés, Indigenous Achí, Celebrator of the Word, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. September

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 55,6-9 / Ps 144 1818 Phil 1,20c-24.27a / Mt 20,1-16 Joseph of Cupertino Dag Hammarskjold 1810: Independence of Chile, National holiday. 1969: The «Rosariazo»: Citizens force the police to retreat, in Rosario, Argentina. 1973: Miguel Woodward Iriberri, a priest from Valparaiso, Chile, is assassinated by the Pinochet dictatorship. 1998: Miguel Angel Quiroga, a priest, is murdered at a paramilitary base in Chocó, Colombia.

163 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1919 Ezra 1,1-6 / Ps 125 2020 Ezra 6,7-8.12b.14-20 / Ps 121 2121 Eph 4,1-7.11-13 / Ps 18 Januarius Lk 8,16-18 Andrew Kim, Fausta Lk 8,19-21 Matthew Mt 9,9-13 1973: Juan Alsina, Omar Venturelli, and Etienne Pesle, 1519: Hernando de Magallanes sets sail from Sanlúcar. 1956: Dictator Anastasio Somoza dies at the hands of priests, victims of the Pinochet police. 1976: In Washington, Orlando Letellier, the former Chancellor Rigoberto López Pérez, Nicaragua. 1983: Independence of Saint Kitts and Nevis. of the popular regime of Allende, is assassinated. 1904: Chef Joseph, Nez Perce humanitarian and resistance 1985: Earthquake in Mexico City. 1977: The Indigenous peoples of Latin America raise their leader, dies in exile in Washington state. 1986: Charlot Jacqueline and companions, martyrs to voices for the first time in the Palace of the Nations 1973: Gerardo Poblete Fernández, Salesian priest, assassi- liberating education, Haiti. in Geneva. nated in Iquique, Chile by the Pinochet regime. 1994: The United States lands in Haiti to return Jean 1978: Francisco Luis Espinosa, priest, and companions are 1981: Independence of Belize. Bertrand Aristide. martyred at Estelí, Nicaragua. International Peace Day (U.N.) 2001: Yolanda Cerón, Director of Pastoral Ministry for the 1979: Apolinar Serrano, José Lopez, Félix Garcia Grande Diocese of Tumaco, Colombia, assassinated. and Patricia Puertas, campesino labor leaders, are martyred in El Salvador. Last quarter: 13h38m in Gemini September

164 Thursday Friday Saturday 2222 Hag 1,1-8 / Ps 149 2323 Hag 2,15b-2,9 / Ps 42 2424 Zech 2,5-9.14-15a / Int. Jer 31 Maurice Lk 9,7-9 Lino y Tecla Lk 9,18-22 Peter Nolasco Lk 9,43b-45 1977: Eugenio Lyra Silva, lawyer, martyred for justice in 1850: José Artigas, a national hero of Uruguayan indepen- 1533: Caupolicán, leader of the Mapuche, executed by Santa Maria da Vitoria, Brazil. dence, dies in exile. Spanish conquistadors. 1862: Slaves in the United States are legally freed. 1868: «Cry of Lares»: Ramón Betances begins the emanci- 1810: The Bishop of Michoacán excommunicates 2000: Omar Noguera, member of the municipal employees pation movement from slavery in Puerto Rico. Miguel Hidalgo, pastor of Dolores, for calling for union in Cali, Colombia, dies of wounds received in 1905: Francisco de Paula Víctor dies; considered a saint by Independence. attacks targeting trade unionists. the Brazilian Afro-American community. 1976: Marlene Kegler, student, martyr of faith and service 1973: Pablo Neruda dies. among university students of La Plata, Argentina. 1989: Henry Bello Ovalle, activist, martyred for his solidarity 1976: Independence of Trinidad y Tobago. with Colombia’s youth. 1993: Sergio Rodríguez, worker and university employee, martyr to the struggle for justice, Venezuela. 2008: “Day of the Overshoot”: we start spending 30% more resources than are available on the planet. Spring equinox in the South, Fall equinox in the North, at 03:09 September

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ezek 18,25-28 / Ps 24 2525 Phil 2,1-11 / Mt 21-28-32 Cleofás Sergio de Radonezh 1513: Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses the Isthmus of Panama and reaches the Pacific Ocean. 1849: Lucas da Feira, fugitive slave and chief of the resisting Sertanejos of Brazil, is hanged. 1963: Pro-USA military coup in the Dominican Republic. Bosh, an admirer of the Cuban revolution, is deposed.

165 But, is there or isn’t There another world up there? One way of thinking... that has to be rethought! José María VIGIL To SEE: We see a world divided in two floors in almost every culture and religion (it is not a Christian For thousands of years humans have thought of and theme, but from the Neolithic religions in general). What imagined the world to be divided into two parts: This does that means? world, which we see, and the other, the divine, heaven, To JUDGE the world of above, where God is, the mysterious spir- First: From where does this way of seeing come? its... The belief in two different worlds cannot come from On the street, in science, in economy...we ignore religion, because today we know that religion does not that “other world”: only count the real world. But, at the teach physics, nor cosmology, nor astrophysics...Religion personal life, when confronted by the great mysteries of cannot provide us with a “map” of reality, with one or life, above all in the religious realm, we look up there. two floors... Science in its part, since it began to de- As children, most of us were educated, in the idea velop in the XVI century, has been insisting on the con- of the existence of those two worlds; our mothers, the trary: There are not two worlds. Then, who said so? From religious stories we were told, perhaps the Catechism where does this come? classes, the cultural environment taught us that and we The major part of the common cosmovision of the accepted it as a given truth. people of the occident comes from the Greek philoso- Then we have become adults, we have studied, we phers (centuries before Christianity). Plato is the most have to functioned in this real world... and we ask our- influential one, in his Timeo, that establishes the divi- selves, Does the above world exist or not? Is that “of sion between the visible and the invisible, between body faith”? Or is “of science” that does not exist? and soul. The soul has its world in the stars, and from What is the world above? there they have fallen into the body, which belongs to Up to the sixteen century, practically in the cultures earth and is contaminated with evil deeds and mortality. of all former peoples, was the idea that this world de- If in this life the soul controls the body, it will return pends entirely on the superior world, invisible, unreach- to the above world. Christianity has amalgamated the able, where all the celestial forces are living, such as Hebrew, Greek and Babylonian ideas in a debate that has God, or the goddesses, the spirits, supernatural forces lasted for centuries and has given us a finished picture that have dominion over and threaten this world. of the cosmovision that we have inherited. In the Christian vision it is translated into the idea What is this? that God lives in heaven, Celestial Lord, seated on At the beginning it has to do with “myths”. All cul- God’s throne from where the universe is governed. God tures have ancient forms of modern myths. A myth does is accompanied by the angels and saints, in a celestial not mean that something is false, or simple folk tales. cortege in the style of the ancient monarchs. The above Those were useful instruments to imagine or interpret world is superior in everything: in strengths, in life, in reality for the lack of science and other means of knowl- knowledge, in happiness. Once in a while, that world edge that could have not been perceived in another sends some communication, some “revelation” so we way. All humans ask themselves, where am I? What is can know something about God’s world, especially about this world about? Where did it come from? Every culture what we should do in order to please God (God’s law). has felt obliged to respond to their people that this We earn heaven with our prayers and sacrifices, world came from nothing, or that it germinated from the which can save us from danger and suffering that other- earth, or that it was created by a god, who organized it wise, would be inevitable. The above world, God’s world, this way or another. The answers to these fundamental rather the future world, the definitive world is where we questions, could have only been answered through this all go after death. genius narrations (the myths), that provide a common It seems like in human nature there is something cosmovision to cultures, to many countries and peoples. that postulates the existence of the second level, be- That geneus idea that there is a world above that we cause otherwise, the force of that belief cannot be ex- depend on, is coherent with many cultures and religions plained, the constant presence during the millenniums that assume that description of the cosmos. 166 But, what does it mean to describe the global real- to unify at the personal level, what they know about ity of a world structured in two floors (or levels) with science and religion , and live conscious that it is “in a the same concrete relations of dominium/dependency unique world”, not in two, would need to make a great between them? effort, because we are a generation of cultural change. It is an “axiom” The old is dying, and the new have not been born yet. In physics and in other sciences, an “axiom” is a To ACT: Can we stop believing in the above world? certain basic affirmation that cannot be demonstrated The conservative vision thinks that to believe in the (it is out of reach for us), but they appear plausible to world above is an essential part of faith, sine qua non. us and we cannot proceed without them. For example, But there are many believers who are modern and open Euclides’ Axiom: through an exterior point to a straight who are experimenting with the possibility that we can line, passes one and only one parallel. It does not mat- be religious and Christian people without believing in ter to me if two or 25 lines pass through it, but if we do two worlds, feeling themselves in only one world, this not establish that only one goes through it, we would one! not be able to construct “Euclidian” geometry, the nor- We know that Jesus seemed to speak about two mal. Lobatchevsky proved that he could pass two paral- worlds, as when he affirmed that the sun turns around lels through a point, and the geometry that he built, not the earth or that the grain of wheat “dies” in order to Euclidian, is totally distinct than the normal one (and it give life (in a beautiful metaphor but a biological fal- is also useful). lacy). Jesus did not meet Galileo, but he received the Human beings learn soon that this world is not only ideas of Plato. But we do not doubt that today Jesus for the eyes that can see and the hands that can touch, would have left Plato for Galileo, and he would have what can be weighed, be measured or can be eaten, if challenged us for not living in a more unifying world not that there are many spiritual forces that seem to that the new cosmology and quantum physics have dis- control it. Our ancestors tried to understand it. What are covered for us. those realities that seem to control us? Where are they? We can be Christian or any other religion and not How do they act? Myths drew a “map” that placed them believe in two worlds. This does not imply that only in the world above. “inert matter” exists”... if not the transcendental dimen- Myths accomplished a very significant role (science sion (that what the primitive people identified as second was not able to give a hand yet). Myths planted the floor), it is not disregarded, outside, but rather it is foundation of the culture of every nation; the archetypes present in the same reality. It is like their hearts. What were installed in the collective subconscious, the funda- they called God is the soul of the world, the same divine mental axioms...everything that would allow each coun- world, not a “lord” sitting above in his throne... try and people to be able to live in the same imaginary Rethink the theme of the two worlds, and make your collective world. decision, because if not, there is somebody that already Can we belief today in two worlds? though it out for you (Plato in this case, not Jesus) We are witnesses to the breaking of a millenary and his thinking has been given to us as unquestion- tradition. The actual rupture indicates that it is not pos- able. There is no reason why we need to live alienated sible to continue with some axioms. Science has exposed by a foreign way of thinking. It has to be possible to be their lies: there is not another world above, or outside Christian and to be adult, and to live and think in terms of our world. The new generations cannot even imagine of the real world. At least those who are willing to do it that. In the real world we all have forgotten that al- can do so! ready. But in religious life many people keep a dualistic Obviously, this is very complex, and we are only vision: They continue to think that there is another suggesting (not demonstrating) that there is a new world above that intervenes in our world and which we way of becoming a person that is emerging, without an can count on... squizophrenic mind between reality and the religious Whoever wants to continue to believe in the world of cosmovision. This new vision demands the reinterpreta- above will not feel lonely: Al traditions of cultures and tion of many classical religious affirmations. Our Agenda religions, and of the Christianity in concrete, have been seeks to help whoever wants to explore it (cfr. P.234). built over the Platonic Axiom, and it is still expressed We recommend: Radford Ruther, Rosemary, Gaia and God, 1992. Publishers, Earth Healing , HarperCollins Theology of Gaia & God: An Ecofeminist Rosemary, Ruether, Radford Recommended: in a dualistic language. On the contrary, who would like Demac, Mexico 1993. q 167 September M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 26 27 28 29 30 2011 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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169 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2626 Zech 8,1-8 / Ps 101 2727 Zech 8,20-23 / Ps 86 2828 Neh 2,1-8 / Ps 136 Cosmos and Damian Lk 9,46-50 Vincent de Paul Lk 9,51-56 Wenceslaus and Lawrence Ruiz Lk 9,57-62 1944: Brazilian troops wrest control from the Nazis of the Day of Enriquillo, Quisqueyano Indigenous, who resisted the 551 B.C.E.: Birth of Confucius in China. Serchio valley on the central front of the Gothic Line Spanish conquest in the Dominican Republic. 1569: Casiodoro de Reina delivers his translation of the in Italy after 10 days of fighting. 1979: Guido Léon dos Santos, a hero of the working class, is a Bible to the printer. 1974: Lázario Condo and Cristóbal Pajuña, Christian leaders victim of political repression in Minas Gerais, Brazil. 1868: Attempt by ex-slaves to defend a white supporter of their communities fight for agrarian reform, are 1990: Sister Agustina Rivas, Good Shepherd Religious, results in a massacre of up to 300 blacks at Opelousas, assassinated in Riobamba, Ecuador. martyr in La Florida, Peru. Louisiana. Bible Day, in various countries of America 2002: Mexican military court charges three army officers 1871: Brazilian law of the “Free Belly” separates Black infants with the killings of 143 people during the “dirty war” from their slave parents: the first “abandoned minors.” of the 1970’s. 1885: Brazilian law of the “Sixty year-old,” throws Blacks New Moon: 11h08m in Libra over 60 into the street. 1990: Pedro Martinez and Jorge Euceda, activist journalists, are martyred for the truth in El Salvador. October September

170 Thursday Friday Saturday 2929 Dan 7,9-10.13-14 / Ps 137 3030 Bar 1,15-22 / Ps 78 11 Bar 4,5-12.27-29 / Ps 68 Michael, Gabriel, Raphael Jn 1,47-51 Jerome LK 10,13-16 Therese of the Child Jesus Lk 10,17-24 1871: The Benedictines are the first religious order in Brazil 1655: Coronilla and companions, Indigenous caciques, 1949: Victory of the Chinese Revolution, China’s National to free their slaves. martyrs to liberation, Argentina. Day. 1941: Babi Yar massacre results the death of at least 1974: Chilean General Carlos Prats and his wife, witnesses 1542: The war of Araucanía begins. 33,771 Jews from Kiev and its suburbs at the hands for democracy, are assassinated in Argentina at the 1991: The military expel the constitutional president of Haiti, of the Nazis. beginning of Operation Condor. Aristide, and begin a massacre. 1906: Second US armed intervention in Cuba. It will continue 1981: Vincente Matute and Francisco Guevara, peasants, mur- 1992: Julio Rocca, Italian volunteer, is martyred in Peru in for 2 years, 4 months. dered in the struggle for their land in Yoro, Honduras. the cause of solidarity. 1992: Congress deposes President Collor, Brazil. 1981: Honorio Alejandro Núñez, Celebrator of the Word and seminarian, martyr to the Honduran people. 1991: José Luis Cerrón, university student, martyr to solidarity, Huancayo, Peru. 1991: State coup against Constitutional President Jean- Bertrand Aristide, Haiti. 1991: State coup against the constitutional government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti, 10 years. October

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Isa 5,1-7 / Ps 79 22 Phil 4,6-9 / Mt 21,33-43 Guardian Angels 1869: Mahatma Gandhi is born. 1968: Tlatelolco Massacre sees the Mexican army massacre hundreds of students peacefully protesting in the Plaza of the Three Cultures in Mexico City. 1972: Beginning of the invasion of the Brunka territory in Honduras by the United Brand Company. 1989: Jesus Emilio Jaramillo, bishop of Arauca, Colombia, martyred for peace in service of the people. 1992: Police repression of the prisoners at Carandirú, São Paulo: 111 dead and 110 wounded. 171 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 33 Jon 1,1-2,1-11 / Int. Jon 2,3-8 44 Jon 3,1-10 / Ps 129 55 Jon 4,1-11 / Ps 85 Francis Borgia Lk 10,25-37 Francis of Assisi Lk 10,38-42 Plácido y Mauro Lk 11,1-4 1838: Black Hawk, leader and warrior of the Sauk tribe dies Theodore Fliedner 1984: Illegal U.S. aid to Nicaraguan Contras confirmed when after a life of resistance to encroachment of the United 1226: Death of Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Catholic Nicaraguan government shots down a cargo plane and States on Indigenous lands. Action and the environment. captures a survivor. 1980: Maria Magdalena Enriquez, Baptist and press secretary 1555: The provincial council of Mexico forbids priesthood to 1995: The Guatemalan army massacres 11 peasants from of the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador, is Indigenous people. the “Aurora 8th of October” community to discourage martyred for her defense of the poor. 1976: Omar Venturelli is martyred for his work among the the return of refugees who had fled to Mexico. 1990: Reunification of Germany. poor in Temuco, Chile. 2007: The widow and five sons of Pinochet go to prison for appropriation of public funds. World Amnesty Day World Habitat Day (first Monday of Octuber) First quarter: 03h15m in Capricorn October

172 Thursday Friday Saturday 66 Mic 3,13-20a / Ps 1 77 Joel 1,13-15;2,1-2 / Ps 9 88 Joel 4,12-21 / Ps 96 Bruno Lk 11,5-13 Rosario Lk 11,15-26 Tais y Pelagia Lk 11,27-28 William Tyndal Henry Melchor, Muhlenberg 1970: Néstor Paz Zamora, seminarian and son of a Bolivian 1976: Over 300 peacefully protesting students are massacred Ntra. Sra. del Rosario, patrona de los negros, Brasil. general, is martyred in the struggle for the liberation. by a coalition of right-wing paramilitary and government 1462: Pius II officially censures the reduction of Africans 1974: The first Amerindian parliament of the Southern Cone forces in Bangkok, Thailand. to slavery. meets in Asunción. 1981: Assassination of Anwar al–Sadat, Nobel Peace Prize 1931: * Desmond Tutu, South African Archbishop, and Nobel 1989: Penny Lernoux, journalist, author and defender of the recipient and President of Egypt. Peace Price recipient. poor in Latin America, dies. 1973: An army lieutenant and a group of police massacre 1990: Police fire leaves 17 Palestinians dead and over 100 15 persons at Loquén, Chile. wounded on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 1980: José Osmán Rodriquez, peasant Delegate of the Word, is martyred in Honduras. 1980: Manuel Antonio Reyes, pastor, martyr of dedication to the poor, in El Salvador. 1998: Matthew Shephard tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming because of his sexual orientation. 2001: The USA begins the invasion of Afghanistan. October

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 25,6-10a / Ps 22 99 Phil 4,12-14.19-20 / Mt 22,1-14 Dionisio, Luis Beltrán 1581: Death of Luis Beltrán, Spanish missionary in Colombia, Dominican, preacher, canonized in 1671, principal patron of Colombia since 1690. 1967: Ernesto Che Guevara, Argentine physician and Cuban revolutionary, is executed in Bolivia.

173 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1010 Rom 1,1-7 / Ps 97 1111 Rom 1,16-25 / Ps 18 1212 Rom 2,1-11 / Sl 61 Tomás de Villanueva Lk 11,29-32 Soledad Torres Acosta Lk 11,37-41 Pilar, Serafín Lk 11,42-46 1868: The Grito de Yara proclaims Cuba’s independence at 1531: Ulrich Zwingli dies en Switzerland. Cry of the excluded in various countrues of L.A. Carlos Céspedes plantation at La Demajagua. 1629: Luis de Bolaños, Franciscan, precursor of the 1492: At 2 AM, Columbus sees the Guanahani Island, which 1987: First Encounter of Blacks of South and Southeast reductions, apostle to the Guarani. he will call San Salvador (today, Watling). Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro. 1810: Francisco Javier Lizana, Archbishop of Mexico, 1909: The pedagogue, Francesco Ferrer I Guardia faces a 1970: Pierre Laporte, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of confirms the excommunication against Hidalgo and his firing squad in Barcelona. Labor of Quebec is kidnapped by the FLQ. followers for calling for the independence of Mexico. 1925: 600 US Marines land in Panama. 2007: Life imprisonment for Christian Von Wernich, chaplain 1976: Marta Gonzalez de Baronetto and companions are 1958: First contact with the Ayoreos Indigenous people, to torturers Argentina. martyred for their service to the people of Córdoba, Paraguay. Argentina. 1976: Juan Bosco Penido Burnier, a Jesuit missionary, is 1983: Benito Hernández and indigenous companions are martyred for his charity in Ribeirão Bonito, Brazil. martyred in the struggle for land, in Hidalgo, Mexico. 1983: Marco Antonio Orozco, an Evangelical pastor, is martyred in the cause of the poor in Guatemala. Full Moon: 02h06m in Aries October

174 Thursday Friday Saturday 1313 Rom 3,21-30a / Ps 129 1414 Rom 4,1-8 / Ps 31 1515 Rom 4,13.16-18 / Ps 104 Edward Lk 11,47-54 Calixtus Lk 12,1-7 Teresa of Avila Lk 12,8-12 1629: Dutch West Indies Co. granted religious freedom to 1964: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. becomes the youngest 1535: Pedro de Mendoza moves up the Río de la Plata with residents of its West Indian territories. recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his non- 12 ships and 15.000 men. 1987: 106 landless families occupy farmlands in various violent resistance to racism in the U.S.A. 1880: Vitorio, Apache resistance leader, is killed by Mexican parts of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 1973: 77 university students demanding a democratic troops. 1996: Josué Giraldo Cardona, a human rights activist, is government in Thailand are killed and hundreds 1994: Aristide takes power again in Haiti after the interruption killed by Colombian paramilitaries. wounded. of a military coup led by Raoul Cedras. International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction 2008: General Sergio Arellano Stark, head of the Caravan of Second Wednesday of October Death, is sent to prison 35 years later, Chile. October

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 45,1.4-6 / Ps 95 1616 1Thess 1,1-5b / Mt 22,15-21 Margaret Mary Alacoque 1975: Greg Shackleton and four other journalists are killed at Balibo by Indonesian troops invading East Timor. 1992: Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchú, advocate of indigenous rights, receives the Nobel Peace Prize. 1997: Fulgêncio Manoel da Silva, labor leader and politician is assassinated in Santa Maria da Boa Vista, Brazil. 1998: Pinochet is arrested in London. More than 3,100 persons were tortured, disappeared and/or assassinated during his 17-year dictatorship. 2008: Garzón opens the first case against the Franco regime. World Foof Day (FAO, 1979) 175 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1717 Rom 4,20-25 / Int. Lk 1,69-75 1818 2Tim 4,9-17a / Ps 144 1919 Rom 6,12-18 / Ps 123 Ignatius of Antioch Lk 12,13-21 Luke Lk 10,1-9 Peter of Alcantara, Paul of the Cross Lk 12,39-48 1806: Jean-Jacques Dessalines, revolutionary leader and a 1859: Anti-slave uprising in Kansas, USA. 1983: Maurice Bishop, ousted Prime Minister of Grenada, is founding father of Haiti, is assassinated. 1570: Death of Manuel da Nóbrega, Jesuit missionary and executed along with Vincent Noel and key New Jewel 1961: Over a hundred unarmed Algerian Muslim demonstrators defender of the Indigenous peoples of Brazil. Movement leaders. are killed by Paris police and special troops. 1977: Over 100 workers at Aztra sugar mill in Ecuador 2001: Digna Ochoa, human rights lawyer, is assassinated 2003: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, President of Bolivia, is are massacred when they demand payment of in Mexico City. defeated by a popular uprising. back wages. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 1991: “Torture, Never Again” identifies 3 victims secretly buried in São Paulo. October

176 Thursday Friday Saturday 2020 Rom 6,19-23 / Ps 1 2121 Rom 7,18-25a / Ps 118 2222 Rom 8,1-11 / Ps 23 Laura Lk 12,49-53 Ursula, Celina, Viator Lk 12,54-59 María Salomé Lk 13,1-9 1548: Founding of the city of La Paz. 1971: Chilean Pablo Neruda is awarded the Nobel Prize 1976: Ernesto Lahourcade, Argentine trade unionist, is 1883: End of the border war between Chile and Peru. for Literature. martyred for justice. 1944: Ubico, dictator, is thrown out in Guatemala by a 1973: Gerardo Poblete, Salesian priest and a martyr for peace 1981: Eduardo Capiau, Belgian Religious, martyr to solidarity popular insurrection. and justice in Chile, is tortured, then murdered. in Guatemala. 1975: Raymond Hermann, an American priest serving the 1987: Nevardo Fernández is martyred in the struggle for Quechua of Bolivia, is martyred. indigenous rights in Colombia. 1978: Oliverio Castañeda de Leon, student leader and symbol 2009: Víctor Gálvez, catechist, human rights promoter, of the struggle for liberty in Guatemala, is killed. is assassinated for his resistance to transnational United Nations Disarmament Week mining and electrical companies. Malacatán, San Marcos, Guatemala. Last quarter: 03h30m in Cancer October

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ex 22,20-26 / Ps 17 2323 1Thess 1,5c-10 / Mt 22,34-40 Juan Capistrano Santiago de Jerusalén 1956: Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule begins with peaceful demonstrations. 1986: Vilmar José de Castro, pastoral worker and land rights activist is assassinated in Caçú, Goiás, Brazil, by the UDR of the landowners. 1987: Joao “Ventinha”, a peasant farmer, is killed by three gunmen at Jacundá, Brazil.

177 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2424 Rom 8,12-17 / Ps 67 2525 Rom,18-25 / Ps 125 2626 Rom 8,26-30 / Ps 12 Anthony Mary Claret Lk 13,10-17 Crisanto, Gaudencio Lk 13,18-21 Felicísimo, Evaristo Lk 13,22-30 1945: The United Nations is founded. 1887: A sector of the Brazilian Army, in solidarity with the Felipe Nicolai, Johann Heemann, Paul Gerhard 1977: Juan Caballero, Puerto Rican union leader, is people, refuses to destroy the Black stockades. 1981: Ramón Valladares, Salvadoran human rights activist, assassinated by a death squad. 1974: Antonio Llidó, Spanish priest, disappeared, Chile. is assassinated. 2005: Rosa Parks “Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights 1975: Vladimir Herzog, journalist, assassinated by the military 1987: Hubert Luis Guillard, a Belgian priest is assassinated Movement” dies in Detroit, Michigan. dictatorship in São Paulo. by an army patrol in Cali, Colombia. World Development Information Day 1983: The US invades Granada. 1987: Herbert Anaya, Sawyer, martyr to Human Rights, 1987: Carlos Páez y Salvador Ninco, Indigenous; Luz Estela El Salvador. United Nations Day and Nevardo Fernandez, workers, Colombia. New Moon: 19h56m in Scorpio Aniversary of the Signing of the U.N. Charter, 1945. 1988: Alejandro Rey and Jacinto Quiroga, pastoral workers, martyrs to the faith, Colombia. 1989: Jorge Párraga, evangelical pastor, and his companions are martyred for the cause of the poor of Peru. 2002: Death of Richard Shaull, Presbyterian liberation theologian and missionary in Brazil and Colombia. October

178 Thursday Friday Saturday 2727 Rom 8,31b-39 / Ps 108 2828 Eph 2,19-22 / Ps 18 2929 Rom 11,1-2a.11-12.25-29 / Ps 93 Gustavo Lk 13,31-35 Simon and Jude Lk 6,12-19 Narcisus Lk 14,1.7-11 1553: Miguel Servet, Spanish theologian, physician, and Procession of the Black Lord of the Miracles (Christ) in Lima, 1626: The Dutch buy the island of Manhattan from the humanist, condemned by Catholics and Protestants according to an Afro-Peruvian tradition. Indigenous people for 24 dollars. alike, is burnt at the stake in Geneva. 1492: Columbus arrives in Cuba on his first voyage.. 1987: Manuel Chin Sooj and companions, Guatemalan 1561: Lope de Aguirre, brutal Spanish conquistador, murdered 1962: Soviet leader Khrushchev and U.S. president Kennedy peasant catechists, are martyred. by own men after an epic descent of the Maranon, agree on a way to end the Cuban Missile Crisis. 1989: 14 fishermen in El Amparo, Venezuela are shot by a Amazon, and Orinoco rivers. 1907: Birth of Sergio Méndez Arceo, Bishop of Cuernavaca, military and police force. 1866: Peace of the Black Hills between the US Army and the Mexico and social activist. Cheyenne, Sioux and Navajo peoples. 1986: Mauricio Maraglio, missionary, martyr to the struggle 1979: Independence of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for land, Brazil. National Holiday. October

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Mal 1,14b-2,2b.8-10 / Ps 130 3030 1Thess 2,7b-9.13 / Mt 23,1-12 Alonso Rodríguez 1950: Nationalist insurrection in Puerto Rico, directed by Pedro Albizu Campos. 1979: Santo Dias da Silva, 37 year-old metal worker and Christian labor activist, is martyred for Brazilian workers. 1983: Raúl Alfonsín is elected president in Argentina after the military dictatorship. 1987: Nicaragua approves a multi-ethnic Caribbean autonomous region, the first in Latin America. 1999: Dorcelina de Oliveria Folador, a physically handicapped activist with the landless movement is assassinated for her denunciation of the powerful in Brazil. 179 Religions and Revolution Félix Sautié Mederos La Habana, Cuba

I will never be able to forget what a Latin Ameri- the Law of Agrarian Reform of May 18, 1959, which can church official expressed during his visit to a was the first measure in favor of the dispossessed, youth group from Nicaragua who, at the end of the and which Cuban bishops welcomed in a letter sent to 1970s, studied in the Island of Youth, Cuba. Despite Fidel on August 1959. But the interests of the wealthy the time that has passed since, I remember the phrase were threatened by this law, and even more by the in its basic elements: “one can be like the rivers that urban reform of October 14, 1960, which proposed destroy everything in their path when their banks that the people inhabiting the land could become its flood over, or gentle as the lakes. Revolutions are like owners. Since then, the problems started. The Second

the rivers and I wish you were like the lakes.” Vatican Council had not yet been celebrated (1962- by Néstor Medina Translated His phrase was the continuation of a previous 1964), and its renovating spirit did not blow in Cuba. analysis with participation from other Cuban clerics The result provoked division between the believers, in which was done before taking us to the school where favor and against the Revolution. the Nicaraguan youth awaited for us together with At the same time, also in 1959, the National Cath- their professors and chaperones. It was like a passion- olic Congress was celebrated, which came to a close ate encounter between church people and revolution at Revolution Square, in a massive ceremony in which people. What is interesting was we both had the same Cuban bishops found themselves at the presidential Christian origin, but from the social standpoint we building with the leaders of the Revolution. Since took different directions: rivers and lakes. About 20 then, there was a long period in which the rivers years had passed since the triumph of the revolution, acted with their positive things and some side effects and as the rivers, many things from the class system not so positive. Years later, this encounter happened before 1959 had been swept away. again, on January 1998, when Pope John Paul II To understand the lessons this half a century of made his historic visit to Cuba. religion and revolution offers, it is necessary to review Already in 1959, it was necessary to either side the concrete facts. In the first place, I cannot forget with the revolution or with the counterrevolution of when, in January of 1959, the bearded rebels came the affected classes, or to abstain from participat- down from the mountains with amulets, crucifixes, ing. A string of confrontations and encounters began and other religious symbols of the Christian faith, to develop and culminated in the policy of scientific many of which are found at the National Sanctuary of atheism, which was the cause of many excesses, and Our Lady of Caridad del Cobre. which culminated with the Constitution of 1976 in One initial lesson is that Christianity and revolu- which Cuba was declared an atheist State. There were tion can converge fully when we put the option for confrontations: the nationalization of Catholic and the poor at the center, and the Gospel is placed over religious colleges in general (May of 1961); the ex- institutional interests. Incompatibilities emerge be- pulsion of priests out of Cuba (September 1961); the cause of class reasons, interests, and excesses that emigration of many Protestant pastors; the procession have nothing to do with spirituality, because dis- of the Virgen de la Caridad in La Habana, when many tributive equity and social justice are diaphanously disturbances took place, and which motivated the proclaimed in the Gospel. “To betray the poor is to prohibition of processions in the entire country; the betray Christ,” was the first slogan used by Christian first pastoral letters from the Catholic bishops of Cuba revolutionaries. But then there was a reaction against that expressed their criticism of the government’s 180 existing policies; discrimination against believers concerning the normalization of relations were ex- in occupying certain trusted positions and studying amined, and the already mentioned visit to Cuba by specific careers in university. Even the religions of John Paul II (January 1998) that was organized in African origin had to seek refuge into the anonymity coordination between the Church and the State. The of homes. Catholic and Protestant temples began to Pope’s presence created a delineation (before and empty. In 1993, Cuban Catholic bishops published the after the Pope’s visit), leaving us a legacy that for a pastoral letter titled “Love Hopes All Things,” where long time will be acting positively in the process of they favored a deep dialogue because of the econom- normalization of the relations between the State and ic, political, and social deterioration. The letter was the Catholic Church, including the other religions. As not received well by the authorities. a result of this event, the Protestant churches gained In the midst of these adversities some things the courage to organize a number of local celebra- began to get better with the arrival to Cuba of Mon- tions (May 1999). Religions and Revolution took a señor Césare Zacchi as representative from the Vatican positive direction of reencounter; the basic concepts (1962-1974). He was introduced in a very positive of the theology of liberation have been and are essen- way into Cuban society, and accomplished the first tial in this new convergence. easing of relations between the Church and the State. Cuba was dreamed in the heart of the San Carlos The theology of liberation from Latin America and Seminary by priests like José Agustín Caballero and specific theologians like Don Pedro Casaldáliga also Félix Varela, who forged a number of disciples who began to have influence around 1985; the publication took on the task of turning it into a reality by the of the book by Frei Betto with the title Fidel and Reli- end of the 19th century, in the joint struggle with gion (1985) resonated the world over; the celebration enslaved African blacks. The Virgen de la Caridad, who of the Cuban National Ecclesial Encounter (CNEE) of appeared in the waters of Bahía de Nipe in 1612, was the Catholic Church in 1986 took people out from the the first Cuban symbol, even before we had the con- inside of temples, and little by little oriented itself science of our own identity, insignia, and flag. There toward the outside through house missions, prayer is no Cuban believer or non-believer who does not homes, and other initiatives; Fidel’s visit to Brazil in respect the Virgen de la Caridad, Ochum for the Pan- March 1990, and his meeting with the base Christian theon of the African religions. communities, a similar visit of Fidel to the Caribbean, To conclude, I can say that, in my view, where and his subsequent meeting with Protestant religious there should have a succession of uninterrupted en- leaders (April 2, 1990), and separately, sometime counters by way of adopting the preferential option later, with the Catholic bishops were important events for the poor, the interests of class and dogmatism for the normalization between the Church and the interfered. On the other hand, as a response to the State. Years later, during the Fourth Congress of Cu- alienation and the aggression to which it was exposed ba’s Communist Party (October 1991), the proposal of from its first moments, the Cuban revolutionary pro- reforming the Constitution to establish Cuba as a non- cess produced a radicalization expressed in the form confessional lay State was taken up and subsequently of Sovietization, with all that is positive that was approved in a referendum in 1992. The fall of the achieved in the material sphere and in political sur- Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Socialist bloc and vival. But in its consequences of extreme atheism, a the Soviet Union caused an economic melt-down in gap was created between revolution and religion, with Cuba—which has been called the “Special Period”—in concomitant mistrust and confrontations that time which religious beliefs and faith, contained within alone and the coming of historical events have been people, began to be exteriorized and temples began able to overcome little by little, although many prob- to fill little by little. The State became more flexible lems remain. Rivers and lakes will converge if they concerning these matters. manage to maintain an evangelical and revolutionary This process of rapprochement, with its highs and alliance for the future of peace, social justice, distrib- lows, had important moments with the visit of Fidel utive equity, and the conservation of the planet. to the Vatican on November 19, 1996, when issues q 181 October M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2011 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 31 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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183 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 3131 Rom 11,29-36 / Ps 68 11 Rev 7,2-4.9-14 / Ps 23 22 Job 19,1.23-27a / Ps 24 Reformation Day Lk 14,12-14 All Saints 1Jn 3,1-3 / Mt 5,1-12a All Souls Phil 3,20-21 / Mk 15,33-39;16,1-6 1553: Alonso Illescas founds the first Latin American 1974: Florinda Soriano, “Doña Tingó”, leader of the Federation 1965: Norman Morrison, a Quaker, self-immolated in front black community not to have experienced slavery at of Christian Agrarian Leagues, martyred for the people of the Pentagon to protest United States involvement Esmeraldas, Ecuador. of the Dominican Republic. in Vietnam. 1973: José Matías Nanco, Evangelical pastor and his 1979: All Saints Massacre at La Paz, Bolivia. 1989: Rape and torture of Sister Diana Ortiz provokes companions, martyrs to solidarity, Chile. 1981: Independence of Antigua and Barbados. allegations of U.S. complicity in the Guatemalan 1989: Members of the National Federation of Salvadoran 2004: The Chilean Army accepts responsibility for crimes civil war. Workers Unions (FENASTRAS) are martyred in San during the dictatorship of Pinochet. First quarter: 16h38m in Aquarius Salvador, El Salvador. World Savings Day November

184 Thursday Friday Saturday 33 Rom 14,7-12 / Ps 26 44 Rom 15.14-21 / Ps 97 55 Rom 16,3-9.16.22-27 / Ps 144 Martín de Porres Lk 15,1-10 Charles Borromeo Lk 16,1-8 Zacharias and Elizabeth Lk 16,9-15 1639: Death of Saint Martin de Porres in Lima, Peru. Son 1763: The Ottawa (USA) go to battle against Detroit. 1838: Independence of Honduras. of a Black slave, overcoming prejudice was accepted 1780: Rebellion against the Spanish led by Tupac Amaru, 1811: First battle fought in El Salvador’s war of independence as a Religious by the Dominicans. Peru. from Spain. 1903: Panama separates from Colombia with the support of 1969: Carlos Mariguela is executed, São Paulo. 1975: Agustín Tosco, Argentine labor leader, dies when unable to the US, National Holiday. 1984: Nicaraguans participate in the first free elections in 56 seek medical attention due to political repression. 1979: Sandi Smith, a nurse and civil rights activist, and four years. Daniel Ortega wins the presidency. 1980: Fanny Abanto, teacher, leader among educators, companions are shot down at an anti-Ku Klux Klan 1995: Anti-peace accords extremist assassinates Israeli animator of BECs in Lima, witness to the faith. rally in Greensboro, North Carolina. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 1988: Araceli Romo Álvarez and Pablo Vergara Toledo, 1991: Fifteen people are killed in the Barrios Altos neigh- Christian activists, martyrs in the resistance against borhood of Lima, Peru when a military death squad dictatorship in Chile. mistakenly attacks a barbeque party. November

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Wis 6,12-16 / Ps 62 66 1Thess 4,13-18 / Mt 25,1-13 Leonard 1844: Spain grants independence to the Dominican Republic. 1866: Imperial Decree 3275 frees those slaves throughout Brazil who are prepared to defend the country in the war against Paraguay. 1988: José Ecelino Forero, pastoral agent, is martyred for faith and service in Colombia. International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (UN).

185 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 77 Wis 1,1-7 / Ps 138 88 Wis 2,23-3,9 / Ps 33 99 Wis 6,1-11 / Ps 81 Ernest Lk 17,1-6 Adeodato Lk 17,7-10 Theodore Lk 17,11-19 John Christian Frederik Heyer 1897: Birth of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker 1938: Kristallnacht sees Nazi pogrom destroy some 2,000 1513: Ponce de Leon takes possession of Florida. movement, pacifist and social activist. synagogues, thousands of Jewish businesses, kill 91 1917: Victory of the worker-campesino insurrection in 1976: Carlos Fonseca, Nicaraguan patriot, teacher and and arrest over 25,000 Jews. Russia. The first experience of constructing socialism founder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, 1977: Justo Mejia, peasant unionist and catechist, is martyred in the world begins. is killed. for his faith in El Salvador. 1837: Elijah Lovejoy, an American abolitionist and journalist, 1987: Indigenous martyrs of Pai Tavyterá, Paraguay. 1984: First Meeting of Black Religious, seminarians and killed by a pro-slavery mob intent on destroying his priests in Rio de Janeiro. printing press in Alton, Illinois. 1989: The Berlin Wall falls. 1978: Antonio Ciani, student leader, is disappeared on his way to San Carlos University in Guatemala City. 1983: Augusto Ramírez Monasterio, Franciscan, martyr to the defense of the poor, Guatemala. November

186 Thursday Friday Saturday 1010 Wis 7,22-8,1 / Ps 118 1111 Wis 13,1-9 / Ps 18 1212 Wis 18,14-16;19,6-9 / Ps 104 Leo the Great Lk 17,20-25 Martin of Tours Lk 17,26-37 Josaphat Lk 18,1-8 1483: Birth of Martin Luther in Germany. Soren Kierkegaard 1838: Abolition of slavery in Nicaragua. 1969: The Brazilian government forbids publication of news 1983: Sebastián Acevedo, activist, martyr to devoted love 1980: Nicoláa Tum Quistán, catechist and Eucharistic minister, about Indigenous peoples, gerrillas, the Black move- of the Chilean people. is martyred for solidarity in Guatemala. ment and anything against racial discrimination. 1999: Death of Jacobo Timmerman, Argentine journalist and 1987: Miguel Angel del Tránsito Ortiz, pastoral animator, 1980: Policiano Albeño, Evangelical pastor, and, Raúl Albeño, human rights advocate, jailed and tortured for writing assassinated in Plan del Pino, El Salvador. martyrs for justice, El Salvador. about the government’s role in disappearances. 2008: Judge Baltasar Garzón orders the investigation of 1984: Alvaro Ulcué Chocué, a priest and a Páez, the largest indige- executions during the Franco regime in Spain. nous nation in Colombia, is assassinated in Santander. 1996: Assassination of Jafeth Morales López, popular Colombian activist, animator of BECs. 2004: The Commission against Torture turns over the testimony of 35,000 victims of the Pinochet dictatorship. Full Moon: 20h16m in Taurus November

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Prov 31,10-13.19-20.30-31 / Ps 127 1313 1Thess 5,1-6 / Mt 25,14-30 Leandro 1969: Indalecio Oliveira Da Rosa, a 33 year-old priest, is martyred for his support of Uruguayan liberation movements. 1974: Karen Silkwood, labor activist and corporate critic, dies in a suspicious accident in Oklahoma.

187 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1414 1Macc 1,10-15.41-43.54-57.62-64 / Ps 118 1515 2Macc 6,18-31 / Ps 3 1616 2Macc 7,1.20-31 / Ps 16 Diego de Alcalá Lk 18,35-43 Albert the Great Lk 19,1-10 Margaret, Gertrude Lk 19,11-28 1817: Policarpa ‘La Pola’ Salavarrieta, heroine of Colombian 1562: Juan del Valle, Bishop of Popayán, Colombia, pilgrim Day of Sacrifice in Islam. independence, is executed by the Spanish. in the Indigenous cause. 1982: Founding of the Latin American Council of Churches 1960: National strike of 400,000 railroad, port and ship 1781: Julián ‘Tupac Katari’ Apasa, leader of indigenous (CLAI). workers, Brazil. uprising in Bolivia, is executed by the colonial army. 1885: Louis Riel, Canadian Métis leader, is executed after 1984: Cesar C. Climaco, a Philippine politician and prominent 1889: Brazil is declared a Republic. a failed rebellion. critic of the Marcos dictatorship, is assassinated in 1904: US Marines land in Ancón, Panama. 1989: Ignacio Ellacuría, his Jesuit companions and two Zamboanga City, Philippines. 1987: Fernando Vélez, lawyer and human rights activist, is female domestic employees of the University of martyred in Colombia. Central America in El Salvador are massacred by the military. International Day for Tolerance (UN) November

188 Thursday Friday Saturday 1717 1Macc 2,15-29 / Ps 49 1818 1Macc 4,36-37.53-59 / Int. 1Chr 29 1919 1Macc 6,1-13 / Ps 9 Elizabeth of Hungary Lk 19,41-44 Elsa Lk 19,45-48 Abdías, Crispín Lk 20,27-40 1858: Death of Robert Owen, social reformer considered 1970: Gil Tablada is assassinated for his opposition to land 1681: Roque González, witness to the faith in the Paraguayan father of the cooperative movement. grabs in La Cruz, Costa Rica. Church, and his companion Jesuits Juan and Alfonso, 1985: Luis Che, Celebrant of the Word, martyred for his 1999: Iñigo Eguiluz Telleriá, a Basque volunteer, and José martyrs. faith, in Guatemala.v Luis Maso, a priest, are assassinated by paramilitaries 1915: Joe Hill, American labor activist, executed after a at Quibdó, Colombia. controversial trial. 2000: Alcira Del Carmen Herrera Pérez, wife of a labor 1980: Santos Jiménez Martinez and Jerónimo ‘Don Chomo’, leader killed in 1996, is taken from her home in Uraba Protestant pastors, are martyred in Guatemala. Antioqueño, Colombia and shot. 2000: Fujimori, while in Japan, presents his demission as Last quarter: 15h09m in Leo president of Peru by fax. November

Christ the King Ezek 34,11-12.15-17 / Ps 22 2020 1Cor 15,20-26.28 / Mt 25,31-46 Felix of Valois, Octavio 1542: The New Laws regularize the encomiendas in the New Indies. 1695: Zumbi de los Palmares, leader of slave resistance in Brazil, is martyred, National Day for Black Cons- ciousness in Brazil. 1976: Guillermo Woods, missionary priest, former US combatant in Vietnam, martyr, Guatemala. 1978: Ricardo Talavera is assassinated in Managua, Nicaragua by the National Guard. 2000: Enrique Arancibia, former agent of the Chilean DINA, is condemned for the attempts on the life of General Pratts in Buenos Aires on Sept. 30, 1984. 189 Universal Children’s Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2121 Dan 1,1-6.8-20 / Int. Dan 3 2222 Dan 2,31-45 / Int. Dan 3 2323 Dan 5,1-6.13-14.16-17.23-28 / Int Dan 3 Presentation of Mary Lk 21,1-4 Cecilia Lk 21,5-11 Clemente Lk 21,12-19 1831: Colombia declares itself a sovereign State, thus World Music Day. 1927: Miguel Agustin Pro, a Jesuit priest, executed by the separating from Great Colombia. 1910: Joâo Cândido, the “Black Admiral,” leads the Mexican government as part of the fiercely anti-clerical 1927: Six striking coal miners are killed by police at the Chibata revolt against near-slavery conditions in the response to the Cristero Rebellion. Columbine Mine in Colorado. Brazilian Navy. 1974: Amilcar Oviedo D., worker leader, dies in Paraguay. 1966: Founding of the National Organization of Women 1963: John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. 1980: Ernesto Abrego, pastor, disappeared with four of his (NOW), Chicago. Brothers in El Salvador. 1975: Peasants of La Union, Honduras, are massacred by mercenaries hired by land barons. World Television Day (UN) November

190 Thursday Friday Saturday 2424 Dan 6,2-28 / Int. Dan 3 2525 Dan 7,2-14 / Int Dan 3 2626 Dan 7,15-27 / Int. Dan 3 Andrew Dung-Lac Lk 21,20-28 Catherine of Alexandria Lk 21,29-33 John Berchmans Lk 21,34-36 1590: Agustín de La Coruña, Bishop of Popayán, exiled and Isaac Wats 1883: Sojourner Truth, escaped slave, abolitionist and imprisoned for defending Indigenous people. 1808: A law is signed that concedes land to non-Black women’s rights advocate, dies. 1807: Joseph ‘Thayendanegea’ Brant, Mohawk war chief foreigners who come to Brazil. 1984: Campesinos of Chapi and Lucmahuayco, Peru are and tireless negotiator for the Six Nations, dies in 1960: Maria Teresa, Minerva and Patria Mirabal, social justice martyred. Ontario. activists and opponents of the Trujillo dictatorship are 1957: Diego Rivera, Mexican muralist and husband of Frida assassinated along with Rufino de la Cruz. Kahlo, dies in Mexico. 1975: Independence of Surinam, National Holiday. 1980: The Russell Tribunal studies 14 cases of violation of 1983: Marçal da Sousa, a Tupá’i leader, martyred in the human Rights against Indigenous peoples. struggle for Indigenous land rights in Brazil. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women New Moon: 06h09m in Sagittarius November

First Sunday of Advent / Cycle B Is 63,16b-17.19b;64,2b-7 / Sl 79 2727 1Cor 1,3-9 / Mc 1,33-37 Virgil 1977: Fernando Lozano Menéndez, Peruvian university student, dies while being interrogated by the military. 1978: George Moscone, Mayor of San Francisco and Harvey Milk, a gay rights advocate and politician, are assassinated. 1980: Juan Chacón and companions, leaders of the FDR, martyrs in El Salvador. 1992: Attempted State coup in Venezuela.

191 The Reinvention of the United Nations An Indispensable Organization Miguel D’Escoto, President of the UN General Assembly 2008-2009 Leonardo Boff, former Ethics professor at Rio de Janeiro University We declare that the United Nations is an indis- ones against Iraq and Afghanistan—continue killing pensable organization for the salvation of the world, hundreds of thousands of people, generally innocent, although we are fully aware of the very limited success with total and absolute impunity. it has had during all of its existence. Not withstanding The immense majority of the inhabitants of the this, institutions should not be evaluated on the basis Earth consider the United Nations to be a debilitated of “good” things that they may have done. All institu- institution, ineffective and even unnecessary. The most tions should be evaluated based on how well they have powerful country of the Earth, scarcely interested in the lived up to their reason for existing in the first place. In ecological future of Mother Earth, has helped to demor- reality, some objectively good things may, from an in- alize the Organization by not respecting its decisions stitutional perspective, be failures, and they can give us and by acting like its owner and manipulating the Secu- the deceptive illusion that all is going well. rity Council to its liking. The United Nations was created with just one pur- Nevertheless, although we recognize all these criti- pose: stop what was feared to be an irreversible cycle of cisms are valid, we do not hesitate to declare that the violent conflicts like the first two World Wars in the first solution does not lie in abandoning the United Nations. half of the 20th Century. It was thought that it was nec- It is our Organization. It was created in the name of “we essary to agree to a code of civilized conduct between the peoples,” and these peoples consider the privilege nations and to create a judicial organism to resolve that a few powerful countries wield in using their veto controversies without having to resort to war. power abusive and antidemocratic, as they, in this way, It was also thought that, in addition to respecting block consideration of fundamental questions for the the rule of law in international relations, it was es- world. sential to deactivate a time bomb that—sooner rather We can and should change all of this if we want the than later—could explode into another World War even United Nations to be at the service of Peace and Life bloodier than the two previous wars: the hunger and and the principle of equal sovereignty of all Member poverty that already existed 64 years ago. These were States to be respected within it; without privileges of the reasons that brought about the adoption of the UN any type for anyone; where decisions that affect all are Charter of San Francisco and the creation of the Bretton taken by all and not only by a small group that uses the Woods institutions—the International Monetary Fund unjust privilege of the veto; an organization in which all and the World Bank—which, in truth, instead of help- are equally obligated to refrain from committing crimes ing to overcome poverty in the world, have helped to against the dignity of Mother Earth and Humanity and entrench it even more. to attend to the consequences of violations, indepen- It is important to note that, at the time of its dently of whether or not they are part of the pertinent creation, the United Nations was not aware of the en- treaties or protocols. Not being part of a treaty is not vironmental question and the grave threats that would equivalent to having license to commit the type of challenge all peoples in the future. With reason, it crimes that the treaty seeks to avoid. sought the Common Good of all societies. Today, with To save the United Nations, it is necessary to reflect the awareness we now have, it should be enriched with a bit on how a deviation so dramatic in the foundational the Common Good of the Earth and Humanity. purposes could have occurred. It is impossible to deny Analyzing the United Nations from these two es- that the powerful countries are reluctant to submit to sential objectives, we can only answer that, lamentably, a higher authority. Because of this, they do not believe it has not achieved its purposes. This is evident by the in the rule of law in international relations. Unfor- sad fact that an obligation as important as the declara- tunately, the law of the jungle, that is to say, of the tion of the State of Palestine continues unfulfilled and strongest—continues to dominate. We refuse to accept aggressions, genocides, and invasions—like the current any country’s claims to exceptionalism. Mother Earth 192 does not recognize any “Manifest Destiny,” because all of the peoples are her beloved sons and daughters and «tiempo axial» Collection all—with equal dignity and rights—inhabit the same Common Home. See the advances of Latin American theology of Throughout the years, procedural norms have been liberation. Books published up to the present: introduced in the UN with the sole objective of limit- 1. ASETT, Por los muchos caminos de Dios, I. ing the power of the General Assembly, the neurological 2. John HICK, La metáfora del Dios encarnado. center of the entire system of the United Nations, and 3. ASETT, Por los muchos caminos de Dios, II. reducing the President of the General Assembly to a 4. Faustino TEIXEIRA, Teología de las religiones. merely ceremonial figure, despite the fact that, accord- 5. José María VIGIL, Teología del pluralismo religio- ing to the Charter, the President is the highest official so. Curso sistemático de teología popular. 6. ASETT, Por los muchos caminos de Dios, III of the Organization as Head of State, and the Secretary 7. Alberto MOLINER, Pluralismo religioso y sufri- General is only the head of the immense bureaucracy, of- miento ecohumano (sobre Paul F. Knitter). ten subjected to insupportable pressures by the wealthy 8. ASETT, Por los muchos caminos de Dios, IV. countries. 9. R. FORNET-BETANCOURT, Interculturalidad y religión. But all of this can change. The power of the General 10. Roger LENAERS, Otro cristianismo es posible. Fe Assembly, the Group of 192, can be rescued and, in en lenguaje de modernidad. great part, it was rescued during the 63rd Session. This 11. Ariel FINGUERMAN, La elección de Israel. rescue of the power of the General Assembly, that is 12. Jorge PIXLEY, Teología de la liberación, Biblia y to say, the democratization of the UN, is possible and filosofía procesual. should continue 13. ASETT, Por los muchos caminos de Dios, V. To contribute to this rescue of the power of “we the 14. John Shelby SPONG, Un cristianismo nuevo para peoples” within the United Nations, we have proposed un mundo nuevo. to work on the following: Books 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13 ans 14 have Eng- I. A Universal Declaration on the Common Good of lish versions (translation or original). Really unbeli- the Earth and Humanity as an essential document for able prices. Digital versions at half price. They can the reinvention of the UN and a complement to the Uni- be ordered through internet. See the index, pro- versal Declaration of Human Rights. We are aware of the logue, or review of your favorite book at: excessive anthropocentrism, greed, and egoism of the http://tiempoaxial.org dominant culture which will make the adoption of the said Declaration difficult, but we will achieve it. II. A Charter of the Organization responding to the Along the Many Paths of God exigencies of the 21st Century, which can guarantee our survival by promoting the Common Good of the Earth This five volume theological project intends to and Humanity. cross Latin American theology of liberation with the- III. The creation of a Tribunal of Notables coming ology of Religious Pluralism. It includes more than from the five regions that make up the United Nations, 50 contributions of theologians of Latin America and in order to hear accusations of crimes against the Com- other continents. See the series, published in four mon Good of the Earth and Humanity, submitted by languages, at: members of the Organization. Its function will be similar http://tiempoaxial.org/PorLosMuchosCaminos to the actual International Court of Justice with the dif- http://tiempoaxial.org/AlongTheManyPaths ference being that the verdicts cannot be ignored, like http://tiempoaxial.org/PelosMuitosCaminos the United States ignored the case won by Nicaragua http://tiempoaxial.org/PerIMoltiCammini against it at The Hague. EATWOT is responsible for the series: We take this opportunity to present our proposal http://Comision.Teologica.Latinoamericana.org for the Universal Declaration. Later, we will present the http://InternationalTheologicalCommission.org other two. q 193 November M T W T F S S M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 28 29 30 2011 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

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194 M T W T F S S M T W T F S S January’2012 1 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 30 31 Friday Saturday Sunday DECEMBER 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 8 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 18 14 15 16 17 18 19 23 24 25 20 21 22 23 24 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 195 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2828 Isa 2,1-5 / Ps 121 2929 Isa 11,1-10 / Ps 71 3030 Rom 10,9-18 / Ps 18 Catherine Labouré Mt 8,5-11 Saturnino Lk 10,21-24 Andrew Apostle Mt 4,18-22 1975: FRETILIN, The Revolutionary Front for an Independent 1810: Miguel Hidalgo, pastor of Dolores, makes public the first 1966: Independence of Barbados, National holiday. East Timor, proclaims the independence of the Proclamation of the Abolition of Slavery and Colonial 1967: The Brazilian Bishops’ Conference (CNBB) protests country. Privileges, in Guadalajara Mexico. against the imprisonment of priests. 1976: Liliana Esthere Aimetta, a Methodist, martyred for the 1916: U.S. marines invade and establish a protectorate in 1989: Luis Velez Vinazco, a union activist, is disappeared in poor in Argentina. the Dominican Republic. Bugalagrande, Colombia. 1978: Ernesto Barrera, «Neto», priest, workers, martyr to 1976: Pablo Gazzari, Argentinean priest, is kidnapped and the BECs, El Salvador. thrown live into the sea from one of the notorious 1980: Marcial Serrano, parish priest, is martyred for his work military “flights of death”. with Salvadoran peasants. International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (U.N.) December

196 Thursday Friday Saturday 11 Isa 26,1-6 / Ps 117 22 Isa 29,17-24 / Ps 26 33 Isa 30,19-21.23-26 / Ps 146 Eloy Mt 7,21.24-27 Viviana Mt 9,27-31 Francis Xavier Mt 9,35-10,1.6-8 1981: Diego Uribe, a Colombian priest, is martyred in the 1823: Declaration of the Munroe Doctrine: “America for 1502: Moctezuma is enthroned as Lord of Tenochtitlán. struggle for the liberation of his people. the Americans.” 1987: Victor Raúl Acuña, priest, dies in Peru. 2000: Vincente Fox is sworn in as Mexico’s President ending 1956: The Granma lands in Cuba. 2002: Ivan Illich, priest, philosopher and sociologist of 71 years of one party, PRI, domination. 1980: Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Maryknoll Sisters, Dorothy liberation, dies. 2000: Chilean Judge Guzmán orders house imprisonment Kazel, Ursuline, and Jean Donovan, a lay person and a trial for Pinochet. are raped and murdered by the Salvadoran military death squad. 1990: Peasants of Atitlán, Guatemala, are martyred. Intenational Anti-Slavery Day (U.N.) Full Moon: 09h52m in Pisces

Second Sunday of Advent December Isa 40,1-5.9-11 / Ps 84 44 2Pet 3,8-14 / Mk 1,1-8 John Damascene, Bárbara 1677: Portuguese forces under Fernán Carrillo attack the slave resistance settlement of Quilombo de Palmares, Brazil. 1969: Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, Black Panther leaders, are shot to death in their sleep by 14 Chicago police officers.

197 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 55 Isa 35,1-10 / Ps 84 66 Isa 40,1-11 / Ps 95 7 Isa 40,25-31 / Ps 102 Sabas Lk 5,17-26 Nicholas of Bari Mt 18,12-14 Ambrose Mt 11,28-30 1492: Columbus arrives in Hispaniola on his voyage to Nicholas of Mira 1975: The military government of Indonesia invades East the Americas. 1534: Founding of Quito. Timor, killing 60,000 people in two months. 1810: Miguel Hidalgo makes public the Proclamation of 1928: Over a thousand striking United Fruit Company banana 1981: Lucio Aguirre and Elpidio Cruz, Honduran Ministers Restitution of Indigenous lands to Indigenous peoples, workers are killed in Colombian military crack down. of the Word, are martyred because of their solidarity thus ending the system of encomiendas, arrenamientos 1969: Death of João Cândido, the «Black Admiral», hero of with Salvadoran refugees. and haciendas in Mexico. the Revolt of Chibata in 1910. 1824: The Brazilian Constitution, through a complementary 1982: Guatemalan government forces wipe out the village law, forbids schooling for lepers and Blacks. of Dos Erres. Over 300 die. 1893: Farabundo Martí , Salvadoran revolutionary, is born. 2000: Two former Argentinean generals during the dictatorship, Suárez Masón and Santiago Riveros, are condemned to life imprisonment by an Italian court. International Volunteer Day December

198 Thursday Friday Saturday 88 Gen 3,9-15.20 / Ps 97 99 Isa 48,17-19 / Ps 1 1010 Sir 48,1-4.9-11 / Ps 79 Immaculate Conception Eph 1,3-6,11-12 / Lk 1,26-38 Leocadia, Valerio Mt 11,16-19 Eulalia de Mérida Mt 17,10-13 1542: Las Casas finishes his “Short Account of the Destruction 1569: Birth of Martin de Porres, patron saint of social 1898: Spain is defeated and cedes Puerto Rico and the of the Indies.” justice, in Peru. Philippines to the USA. 1965: The Second Vatican Council ends. 1824: Antonio Sucre leads independence forces to victory 1948: The United Nations proclaims the Universal Declaration 1976: Ana Garófalo, Methodist, martyr to the cause of the in the final battle against the Spanish at Ayacucho, of Human Rights. poor, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Peru. 1977: Azucena Villaflor, founder of the Mothers of May Square, 1977: Alicia Domont and Leonie Duquet, Religious, are is disappeared in Buenos Aires. martyred for their solidarity with the disappeared in 1996: The Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 is granted to José Ramos Argentina. Horta, the author of the peace plan for East Timor and 1997: Samuel Hermán Calderón, a priest who worked with to Carlos Ximenes Belo, Bishop of Dili. campesinos in Oriente, Colombia, is assassinated 1997: The Socialist Government of France approves the by paramilitaries. reduction of the work week to 35 hours. 2004: 12 countries establish the South American Community Full Moon: 14h36m in Gemini of Nations: 361 million inhabitants.

Third Sunday of Advent December Isa 61,1-2a.10-11 / Int. Lk 1 1111 1Thess 5,16-24 / Jn 1,6-8.19-28 Dámaso, Lars Olsen Skrefsrud 1978: Gaspar Garcia Laviana, a priest, is martyred in the struggle for freedom in Nicaragua. 1994: The First American Summit, in Miami. The governments decide to create the FTAA, without the participation of the people. It will fall apart in 2005.

199 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1212 Zech 2,14-17 / Ps 95 1313 Zeph 3,1-2.9-13 / Ps 33 1414 Isa 45,6-25 / Ps 84 Guadalupe, Juan Diego Lk 1,39-45 Lucy Mt 21,28-32 John of the Cross Lk 7,19-23 1531: The Virgin of Guadalupe appears to Juan Diego at 1976: 22 political prisoners are executed in army operation “to Teresa of Avila Tepeyac, Mexico where the Nahuatl people venerated eliminate terrorists” at Margarita Belén, Argentina. 1890: Rui Barbosa orders archives on slavery in Brazil to be Tonantzin, “the venerable mother”. 1978: Independence of St. Lucy. burned in order to wipe out the memory. 1981: Massacre of “El Mozote.” Hundreds of campesinos 1937: The fall of Nanjing, China to Japanese troops begins 1973: The UN identifies Puerto Rico as a colony and affirms are killed in Morazán, El Salvador. several weeks of raping and killing of more than 200,000 its right to independence. 1983: Prudencio “Tencho” Mendoza, seminarian, martyred civilians and prisoners. 1989: Death of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, Soviet nuclear in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. physicist, human rights activist and 1975 Nobel Peace 2002: Congress throws out former President Aleman for fraud Prize recipient, 1975. of millions, Nicaragua. 2003: José María Ruiz Furlán, a priest who worked in 2009: Ronaldo Muñoz, theologian of liberation theology and slums of Guatemala with popular organizations, is an example of the coherence between faith, theology assassinated. and practice, dies in Santiago, Chile. December

200 Thursday Friday Saturday 1515 Isa 54,1-10 / Ps 29 1616 Isa 56,1-3a.6-8 / Ps 66 1717 Gen 49,2.8-10 / Ps 71 Valerian Lk 7,24-30 Adelaida Jn 5,33-36 Juan de Mata, Lazarus Mt 1,1-17 1890: Sitting Bull or Ta-Tanka I-Yotank, a Lakota Sioux holy 1984: Eloy Ferreira da Silva, Brazilian labor leader, is 1819: The Republic of Great Colombia is proclaimed in man and leader, is killed by police on the Standing assassinated for his defense of land rights. Angostura. Rock Indian Reservation, in South Dakota. 1990: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former priest, is elected 1830: Death of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan-born 1975: Daniel Bombara, Argentinean university student, is President of Haiti in the country’s first modern day independence leader of Spanish South America, near martyred for his commitment to the poor. democratic elections. Santa Maria, Colombia. 1991: Indigenous martyrs of Cauca, Colombia. 1948: Uriel Sotomayor, a Nicaraguan student leader, is 1993: Popular uprising in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. murdered in Leon for his opposition to Somoza dictatorship. 2009: Antonio Aparecida da Silva, Black Latin American theologian dies, in São Paulo-Marília, Brasil.

Fourth Sunday of Advent December 2Sam 7,1-5.8b-12.14a.16 / Ps 88 1818 Rom 16,25-27 / Lk 1,26-38 Rufo y Zósimo 1979: Massacre of campesinos in Ondores, Peru. 1979: Massacre of peasants in El Porvenir, Opico, El Salvador. 1985: João Canuto and sons, labor leader in Brazil. 1992: Manuel Campo Ruiz, Marianist, victim of police corruption, Rio de Janeiro. 1994: The remains of Nelson MacKay are recovered, the first case of the 184 disappeared in Honduras during the 1980s. International Migrants Day (U.N.) Last quarter: 00h47m in Virgo 201 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 1919 Judg 13,2-7.24-25a / Ps 70 2020 Isa 7,10-14 / Ps 23 2121 Cant 2,8-14 / Ps 32 Nemesio Lk 1,5-25 Domingo de Silos, Ceferino Lk 1,26-38 Peter Canisius Lk 1,39-45 1994: Mexican economic crisis: 10 days later the 1818: Luis Beltrán, Franciscan, “first engineer in the liberation Thomas Apostle devaluation of the peso reaches 100%. army of the Andes,” Argentina. 1511: Homily of Fray Antonio de Montesinos in La Española. 1994: Alfonso Stessel, 65 year-old Belgian priest wor- 1962: Juan Bosch wins presidency of the Dominican Republic 1598: Cacique Pelentaru leads Mapuche in defeating Spanish king with the poor, is assassinated in Guatemala in first free elections in 38 years. at Battle of Curalaba and maintaining indigenous control by an agent of state security. 1989: The United States invades Panama to overthrow the of southern Chile for nearly 300 more years. 2001: After a speech by President De la Rúa, the government of General Manuel Noriega. 1907: Over 3500 miners striking for better living conditions are Argentinean people take to the streets provoking massacred at Santa Maria de Iquique, Chile. his demission. 1964: Guillermo Sardiña, priest, in solidarity with his people 2001: Claudio “Pocho” Lepratti, dedicated servant of in the struggle against dictatorship, Cuba. the poor, is killed by police in Rosario, Argentina 2009: Lula proposes a Brazilian Truth Commission to pass (pochormiga.com.ar). judgement on 400 deaths, 200 disappearances and 20,000 tortured during the military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 in Brazil, with 24,000 agents of repression and 334 torturers. Winter solstice in the North, Summer solstice in the South, at 23:38 December

202 Thursday Friday Saturday 2222 1Sam 1,24-28 / Int. 1Sam 2 2323 Mal 3,1-4.23-24 / Ps 24 2424 (Vigil Mass) Isa 9,1-3.5-6 / Ps 95 Francis Cabrini Lk 1, 46-56 Juan de Kety Lk 1,57-66 Herminia and Adela Titus 2,11-14 / Lk 2,1-14 1815: José María Morelos is sent before a firing squad, hero 1896: Conflict between the US and Great Britain over 1524: Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer who opened of the independence of Mexico, after having been exiled Venezuelan Guyana. India and East Africa to European colonization, by the Inquisition. 1952: Vo Thi Sau, 17 year-old revolutionary Vietnamese dies in Goa. 1988: Francisco “Chico” Mendes, environmental leader, is heroine is shot by the French. 1873: Brazilian government takes repressive action against assassinated by land barons in Xapuri, Brazil. 1972: An earthquake rated at 6.2 on the Richter scale destroys the quilombo’s, African fugitive slave settlements, 1997: 46 Tzotziles gathered in prayer are massacred at Managua, more than 10 thousand dead. guerrillas in Sergipe, Brazil. Acteal, Mexico by paramilitaries in the service of land 1989: Gabriel Félix R. Maire, French priest, assassinated in New Moon: 18h06m in Capricorn barons and the PRI. Vitoria, Brazil for his commitment to the poor.

Christmas December Isa 52,7-10 / Ps 97 2525 Heb 1,1-6 / Jn 1,1-18 Christmas 1553: Valdivia is defeated in Tucapel by the Araucans. 1652: Alonso de Sandoval, prophet and defender of African slaves, dies in Cartegena, Colombia. 1951: Bomb blast kills Harry T. Moore, teacher and U.S. civil rights activist.

203 Monday Tuesday Wednesday 2626 Acts 6,8-10;7,54-60 / Ps 30 2727 1Jn 1,1-4 / Ps 96 2828 1Jn 1,5-2,2 / Ps 123 Stephen Mt 10,17-22 John the Evangelist Jn 20,2-8 Holy Innocents Mt 2,13-18 1864: Beginning of the War of the Triple Alliance; Brazil, 1512: Promulgation of the New Laws providing norms for 1925: The Prestes Column attacks Teresina, PI, Brazil. Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay which would encomiendas in the Indies after the complaints of Pedro 1977: Massacre of campesinos at Huacataz, Peru. suffer 60% mortality of its population. de Córdoba and Antonio Montesinos. 2001: Edwin Ortega, Chocano peasant and youth leader, is 2004: Tsunami claims more than 300,000 lives around rim 1979: Angelo Pereira Xavier, chief of the Pankararé nation murdered by FARC rebels at a youth assembly on the of Indian Ocean. in Brazil, is murdered in his people’s struggle for Jiguamiandó River in Colombia. their land. 2001: Petrona Sánchez, peasant and women’s leader, assassinated by FARC rebels at Costa de Oro, Colombia. 1996: Strike of a million South Koreans against a labor law that makes firing easier. 2007: Benazir Butto is assassinated, in Pakistan. December

204 Thursday Friday Saturday 2929 1Jn 2,3-11 / Ps 95 3030 Sir 3,2-6.12.14 / Ps 127 3131 1Jn 2,18-21 / Ps 95 Thomas Becket Lk 2,22-35 Sabino Col 3,12-21 / Lk 2,22-40 Silvester Jn 1,1-18 1987: Over 70 miners from Serra Pelada, Marabá, Brazil are 1502: The largest fleet of the time sails from Spain: 30 1384: John Wycliffe dies in England attacked and shot by military police at the Tocantins ships with 1,200 men, commanded by Nicolás de 1972: Carlos Danieli, a member of the Communist Party River. Obando. of Brazil, dies during the fourth day of torture in São 1996: Guatemalan peace accords are signed ending 36 years 1896: Dr. José Rizal, a national hero of the Philippines and Paulo, Brazil of hostilities that saw 44 villages destroyed and more one of Asia’s first modern proponents of non-violent 2004: Iginio Hernandez Vasquez, indigenous land advocate, than 100,000 deaths. political change is executed by the Spanish. murdered by paid assassins in Honduras. International Day of Diversity 1934: Anticlerical ‘red shirts’ open fire of church goers in Coyoacán, Mexico killing five and wounding many. january

Year 2012, within the following UN Decades: December 12003-2012: United Nations Literacy Decade, Education for All 2005-2014: United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014: Second International Decade of the World’s Indigeous People 2005-2015: International Decade for Action, Water for Life 2006-2016: Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of Affected Regions 2008-2017: Second United Nations Decade for the Erradication of Poverty 2010-2020: United Nations Decade ofr Deserts and the Fight against Desertification http://www.un.org/observances/decades.shtml www.un.org/en/events/ 205 2012January February March

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2 T 2 F 2 SAdvent, Year C 3 W 3 S 3 M 4 T 4 S 4 T 5 F 5 M 5 W 6 S 6 T 6 T 7 S 7 W 7 F 8 M 8 T 8 S 9 T 9 F 9 S 10 W 10 S 10 M 11 T 11 S 11 T 12 F 12 M 12 W 13 S 13 T 13 T 14 S 14 W 14 F 15 M 15 T 15 S 16 T 16 F 16 S 17 W 17 S 17 M 18 T 18 S 18 T 19 F 19 M 19 W 20 S 20 T 20 T 21 S 21 W 21 F 22 M 22 T 22 S 23 T 23 F 23 S 24 W 24 S 24 M 25 T 25 S 25 T 26 F 26 M 26 W 27 S 27 T 27 T 28 S 28 W 28 F 29 M 29 T 29 S 30 T 30 F 30 S 31 W 31 M 209 Social Change Begins with the Transformation of the Idea of God Andrés Pérez Baltodano III. TAKING ACTION Managua, Nicaragua - Ottawa, Canada The dominant religious culture in Latin America politically desirable must be subordinated always to projects itself into the political and economic culture the circumstantially possible. Politics, in other words, of the region, creating an elective affinity relation- is conceived as the capacity to adjust oneself to the ship between a Christian providentialist tradition, a reality of the power. pragmatic political culture of resignation, and the The providentialist religious culture, as well as the economic values that justify and legitimize the pre- poverty and the low levels of education that affect vailing neoliberal model. the poor, promotes passive and fatalistic behaviors “Providentialism” is a theological concept that when faced with inequality, corruption and even at- expresses a vision of the history of individuals and tacks by natural forces. It would be an error, never- societies as a process governed and controlled by theless, to assume that resigned pragmatism does not God. Anthropology, social psychology and popular affect the Latin American economic elites. The power education have demonstrated the weight of a timid and the wealth of this sector hides its tendency to ac- Dougherty by Michael Translated providentialist model in the region. The work of social commodate itself to the circumstances that the power psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró, for example, shows of the global capital defines. They enjoy its privileges, the tendency of the dominant providentialist Catholi- but they are not capable of expanding the horizon of cism to transform docility into a religious virtue. In their reality. It is possible to say, making use of an the field of pedagogy and popular education, the work expression by Gabriel García Márquez, that in spite of Paulo Freire revealed how the oppressed conscious- of their wealth, they have been and continue being, ness of Latin Americans lives in a magical world in inferiors to their own luck. which the victims of exploitation interpret their own Resigned Latin American pragmatism resembles suffering as a divine plan. The theology of liberation those aspects of medieval culture that pushed the also made providentialism visible and fought it, un- men and women of Europe to perceive history as masking the established order—supposedly ordained a process governed by God and Fortune. Modernity by the will of God, as a true disorder, a social sin that implied the rising of a new cosmovision that allowed we must fight. Europeans to assume the right and the duty to par- Studies of “popular Catholicism”—the majority ticipate in the construction of history. in Latin America—also have revealed the dominant The religious providentialism and resigned prag- weight of the idea of a providential God that inter- matism dominant in Latin America are mixed today venes in history through angels, saints and super- with the values of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is a natural forces to reward or punish humanity. Finally model of social organization that intensifies the in- Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement have strumental rationality of the market until turning that reinforced the weight of this timid Latin American rationality into the normative axis managing all life providentialism. in society. The basic normative elements of this model The providentialist vision of God induces the men have been institutionalized around the world in spite and women of the region to accept that their indi- of the immense social cost that it has generated and vidual and social destinies are determined by forces in spite of the crises that it has suffered. beyond their own will. This vision has contributed to So then, the instrumental neoliberal rationality the generation of a political culture that is able to be has been incorporated into the political and religious dominated by a “resigned pragmatism.” Latin American value system, establishing relations of Resigned pragmatism constitutes a form of per- chosen affinity that almost always end up reinforcing ceiving social reality as a historical condition de- the worst dimensions of the values of the market, of termined by forces foreign to thought and to social the religious values and political values that integrate action. From a resigned pragmatic perspective, the the collective imagination of Latin America. 210 Thus, the exacerbated individualism that neolib- lishes that the mind is a mind incarnated in the exis- eral capitalism promotes strengthens the traditional tential drama of men and women who share a certain attitude of indifference that forms part of the culture time and space. Intelligence, as well shown by the and resigned pragmatic conduct of the Latin American Jesuit martyr Ignacio Ellacuría, is always an historical elites. On the other hand, the idea of the God who intelligence, that is to say, located in a certain time decides everything has been converted into a conve- and a social space. nient disguise to hide the operation of the “invisible The proposed materialism rejects the idealistic hand” of the market that, with its index finger, indi- pretension that is expressed in the defense of univer- cates who eats and who does not eat, who lives and sal normative archetypes of social organization that, who dies in the globalized world of today. like the dominant neoliberal democracy in America, Transforming the Idea of God is imposed on the reality of the region, crushing or The transformation of the Latin American social ignoring their specificities and priorities. reality implies the re-foundation of its religious base The proposed materialistic principle, neverthe- and, more concretely, the overcoming of the provi- less, doesn’t deny the possibility nor the necessity dentialist idea of God. It supposes, in other words, to of promoting universal and transcendent visions of abandon the idea of the God that decides everything, good and evil, of just and unjust, moral and immoral. in order assume the responsibility that each person These visions must be constructed from below; that has to become the Providence that defines the future is to say, they must be the result of agreements and and the sense of history and reality. To be Christian, projections articulated from the recognition of the from this perspective, is to imitate the example of Je- multiple and diverse aspirations and material needs sus who turned “into the Providence of God” to fight and spiritualities of humanity. From this perspective, for an ethical vision of the world and history. the implicit promise of justice in Christian salvation Still more, to transcend the providentialism im- only acquires a universal relevance when the sense of plies overcoming the idea of the omnipotence of God the justice that orients it responds to the injustices as the causal center of history. The “omnipotence” of of each people, in the order and with the priorities God, as pointed out by Paul Tillich, must be interpret- that each society demands. ed as the conviction that neither the social structures Finally, Christianity, the third element in Christian nor the forces of nature can prevent the triumph of materialistic humanism, expresses the recognition the idea of good and of justice that Jesus preached. that this doctrine works as the spiritual and norma- To pray, from this perspective, means—as indicated tive matrix within which it orders the meaning of in the title of a recent book “to become the answer to Latin American reality. The overcoming of misery our own prayers.” The transformation of idea of God and poverty in Latin America only will be able to be that Latin America needs must avoid two temptations: achieved within this matrix and from a critical evalua- the trap of an idealistic Christian humanism based tion of the codes that it integrates. In this sense, the on images and platonic forms of what it means to model of social organization that manages to elevate be a good man and a good woman, and the trap of a the human condition of Latin Americans will be Chris- materialistic humanism that denies the transcendent tian or it will not be. dimension of the human being. A Christian materialist In synthesis: in order to subvert the prevailing so- humanism can avoid these two traps. cial morality in Latin America, it is necessary to reart- Humanism expresses the conviction that the pri- iculate the idea of God. This supposes the decoding mary objective of any social system—the State, the and reconstruction of the dominant Christian values in market and the social institutions in general must be the collective imagination of Latin Americans. This is the defense and promotion of human dignity. not a question of eliminating God; it is a question of The materialism in Christian materialist humanism, rearticulating our vision of the relation between God, on the other hand, does not express a rejection of history and humanity. This is the same thing Moses the spiritual dimension of the human being. Simply it and Jesus did. To be Christian is to continue fighting represents the phenomenological principle that estab- to humanize the idea of God in order to glorify God.q 211 Another Chrstianity Is Possible Autonomous, Responsible, Liberated Diego de Medellín Ecumenical center Santiago, Chile

In our American and Caribbean Continent, there lars: the worldliness of the Earth, the arrival of the is a growing awareness of our differences with other human being at autonomous adulthood, and, as such, peoples and amongst each other. Our local and re- assuming the historical responsibility to build or gional identities have been and continue to be woven destroy the Earth, no matter humanity’s own precari- and molded together from thousands of particular ousness. histories, each one with its lights and shadows, its Because of this, today’s women and men are sus- scents and tastes, its terrors and experiences of lib- pecting that our daily decisions and our destiny on eration. the Earth are not determined in any celestial book, In this context, the histories of our religions and prescribed beforehand in divine codes, or even in the athiesms are woven together. Histories of gods that law of Moses, but that we find “God” and the “devil” have come from afar, displacing those of our lands, (in quotes), as Dostoevsky and Sartre said, in our own but also histories of uprisings, open or hidden, of the heart, that is to say, as facets of our soul and not as indigenous gods against the conquering ones. Histo- separate beings to whose power, good or bad, we are ries of alliances between “divinities” of smaller scale, exposed. We are also recognizing that “heaven” and the “saints” of the poor, with others who, although “hell” are now to be located in the profundities of brought from afar by the dominators, are maternal- our soul and in the form in which we seek to relate -like the Virgin Mary--or suffering--like the beaten to each other as we make our human passage on this Christ crowned with thorns. From these promiscuous parcel of the cosmos that is the Earth. We are already histories, unique hybrids have arisen, sometimes persuaded of these suspicions, even if we do not know friendly and close, like the dances of La Tirana, and how to express them with clarity. sometimes terrible, like those that justify distant Nevertheless, if we are still members of a church, exploitations or self-flagellations. we barely dare to bring up these intimate persuasions Official dominant religion, that is to say, Catholi- and intimations...Women and men of the 21st cen- cism, or religions that are becoming “official,” like tury need to think and talk more freely about these some Protestant denominations, are frightened by this doubts, since they form a part of our adult conscious- promiscuity and feel threatened because they claim ness, without being accused of heresy for them. to be the only “true” ones. This claim is now being questioned, additionally, by techno-scientific rational- The original peoples of the Americas seem to not ity that, from school and from TV, is being shared by have as many religious misgivings when confronted more and more people, literate and illiterate. From with the worldliness of the Earth, because, for them, this is derived a conception of the world which makes divinity is not above or outside, but within things it difficult to believe in a “God” exercising his powers themselves. They perceive in them, by means of intu- “from above” or “outside of” this world, with threats ition, a more than human energy that is nevertheless of punishment for miscreants and prizes for obedient part of the world which they inhabit. The life that ones in an “eternity” outside of time and space. flows through the veins and channels of this Earth is pregnant with an immanent energy with internal po- These and other images of religious language tentialities and impulses. This intuition is born from a have become incompatible with the conception of the form of knowledge (intuitive and not analytical) and world and of history that has been developed from rational presuppositions (in respect to the nature of the Enlightenment up until today, having these pil- things) more in accord with the materialism of sci- 212 ences than with certain official ecclesiastical interpre- poor, have a right to an adult and reasonably formu- tations. The understanding of the original peoples is lated faith, as the theologian Antonio BentuÈ has not that the “being” of the divine is outside. Rather, said with other words (Un M·s All· en Medio Nuestro, it is inside, in the interior of our world. Pastoral Popular, October 2008, p.19). This necessity In our America of many cultures, everyone inter- brings with it the necessity to fundamentally criticize acts to a greater or lesser degree with these different the discourse of the ecclesiastical institution. conceptions of the world, the original ones and the The book from Lenaers is right in making this more modern ones, and the conceptions from the double criticism, but, written from Europe, it leaves ancient cultures expressed in the Bible. Participating in the shadows aspects which, from our experience in in all of these, we feel with greater or lesser clar- Latin America, would complement this proposal for a ity the contradictions among them. There are those new language. Reading it from our own diverse cul- who simultaneously seek to live the religious life on tures, it would seem to lack, first of all, a reflection one plane, affirming with a blind faith incomprehen- on the “theological setting” of the reality of poverty sible “truths,” and, on a parallel plane, to maintain and the antagonism and struggle of interests in our a conception of the more modern world. This is the societies. From the European perspective, these reali- attitude--unstable and very precarious--of those who ties are not as visible or urgent as they are among us. think that they have to comply with a faith that does Thus, it is understandable that Lenaers’ book does not not permit reasoning or questioning. highlight these as themes for theological reflection.

There are more and more Christians who feel rest- In the second place, this book leaves in the shad- less and uneasy within their churches because they ows a dimension of religious language which contains cannot talk about the suspicions mentioned above. To within itself a good part of “truth.” This is very pres- this is added the weight of the authoritarian structure ent in the religions of our original peoples: that of of churches, their moralist orientation, and the legal- symbolic expression. The “truth” of symbol consists in istic and imposing language of some of their pastors. recognizing the necessity (so resented by some in our At the same the same time, these restless Christians latitudes) of speaking to each other about the ulti- are looking for new ways of following Jesus so their mate meaning of our lives, our goals and hopes, our lives can acquire meaning. joys and frustrations, relating them with every color, For those who may be interested in this problem- melody, and tone within our reach, like how Jesus atic, we recommend the book Another Christianity explained the Kingdom in parables. This “narrative,” Is Possible: Faith in the Language of Modernity by essential for life, is only realized in the form of poetic Father Roger Lenaers, a Belgian Jesuit. (This book is and religious symbols or symbolic systems. If the lan- currently available in the original Flemish, German, guage of our churches has lost meaning, it is perhaps and Spanish.) We note some of our agreements with because it has been imprisoned in the didactic genre this work and also, from our Latin American and Ca- of “readings of things,” as if “religious things” (grace, ribbean perspective, some of its limitations. virginity, trinity, holy spirit, divinity, other life...) This book brazenly describes the change of were “objective.” It would be desirable that, instead schemes and paradigms of thought of our time, a of this, we could mutually narrate to each other. In- change that radically alienates us from biblical men- serted into human experiences, near or far, personal tal paradigms and, even more, those of the medieval or social, this would be a sign that it is possible to church, in which a good part of our catechism and open up and beautify human life beyond the limita- theology is still stuck. Because of this, the book tions of scientific, economic, and political systems. points to the necessity of finding a language that can Criticizing religious language is only the first step help us to live the Christian faith, taking into account in understanding it. Returning to religious symbolism the need to live with coherency alongside contempo- and recuperating it through criticism is perhaps the rary culture. We think this concerns the entire People only manner of narrating the “meaning” of life, and, of God, not just the experts. All of us, including the as such, putting oneself on the path to seek it. q 213 Mystique in Social Movements Ademar Bogo Teixeira de Freitas, BA, Brazil To speak of mystique makes us think of mystery, in Although there are regional, ethnic, and cultural things that happen for which we have no explanation. differences, there is a feeling of belonging that mobi- It also awakens in us sensitivity and admiration for lizes all the forces in the struggle for the same Causes: attitudes or events that make certain behavior among the defense of the earth, of water, of biodiversity, and human beings stand out. While some want to go fur- of the foundations that guarantee the food sovereignty ther in overcoming challenges, others are happy to of each people. stay closer to what is comfortable. Our ancestors used to say that human beings are Mystique is that strange force that inhabits the different from the animals when they develop the ca- interiority of those who struggle and have the spirit to pacity to produce their own ways of living with their struggle for the realization of the Great Causes of Lib- own hands. In that way we continue producing, car- eration. They struggle and do not falter. They risk their ing for, and keeping safe the flags that motivate the individual life so that the collective life can develop struggles across the world. and they conquer death that comes through exploita- Mystique is then the creative energy that does not tion and violence. allow us to grow tired or to falter. It is that strange

There are three different ways to interpret this force that cannot be explained, touched, or measured RENSHAW by Ricard Translated strange force that accompanies militancy a) through but that we feel, that pushes us to struggle and to theology that understands it as spirituality in which care for the victories achieved. Mystique is the warmth values and persistency are cultivated or b) through the that the human body needs in order to continue being political sciences where it appears as charisma, special fiery and living. qualities placed at the service of the collectivity, and The strength of the foundations c) through philosophy for which mystique is motivation Among militants, mystique is like the strength of and practices values. germination that seeds have. They awaken the social Mystique appears through culture in its three for- movements to history. They discover the potentiality mative axes: thinking, having, and feeling along with of the changes that sleep in the heart of Latin America the practice of companionship, solidarity, loyalty, etc., and they move on to believe in their own strength for and being integrated into art, aesthetics, music, educa- transformation. tion, volunteer work, care, and struggle. When we began the Landless Peoples Movement These are three ways of saying the same thing: (MST) in Brazil in 1984, those involved in the Pastoral attempts to explain the major manifestations of an Land Ministry and the union members were persecuted. inexplicable strength that occurs in the heart of those Many among the squatters and workers without land who struggle for liberation. were assassinated. With tears in our eyes, we buried In Latin America, the social movements, especially our martyrs, as if we were planting a seed in the earth those of the rural and indigenous people, rooted in the and, contrary to what the assassins hoped for, instead need for the earth to produce food, are discovering of stopping, we committed ourselves to continue in qualities among themselves that were unknown to the the struggle by following their example. traditional forces of the political parties. This includes The violence that intimidates is also a school for the capacity to organize themselves, to plan for action, resistance. The tactics of confrontation are always a to form leaders, to publish their own newspapers, to response to the violence of the enemies. If they were produce food, to transform reality, and to transform killing us it was because they viewed us as isolated. themselves—always in community. They are discover- The key was to join together, to gather our strengths. ing, through the study of philosophy and of their own This is how the occupations came about. They were practice, that mystique is the energy awakened by love beautiful schools of self-defense in which a number for all that lives and needs to be cared for such as the of families not only confirmed that “union makes for goods of nature and of history. strength,” but that it makes the sleeping charismas 214 flourish in each person, in a multitude of men and ignorance and naivete in social and political relations. women who are struggling for the earth, in the many Authoritarianism and centralization are overcome struggles for a piece of land. through the participation of women and men who Called by their name or by a nickname, leaders, learn, like architects, to decide their own destiny. singers, poets and animators arose. They created The popular project is called this because it is in schools and in them they formed teachers, trainers in counter-position to the project of the capitalist elites. awareness, in providing examples and values. In that This does not mean that formulation denies the impor- way not only did the earth come to fulfill its social tance of the classes as protagonists in the transforma- function but also people came to discover their social tive projects. and political roles. The mystique of the popular project being con- So it is that the long years of waiting for the earth, structed throughout Latin America is the participative camped under the shade of canvas awnings, did not motivator in simple forms of organization, in which mean defeat but rather a gain, a gain in formation and the political strategy is simplified and the horizon is in popular organization. Those who abandoned the placed within the reach of those who were never con- struggle lost but no one wanted to abandon a place sidered an important force for tracing the direction of where they became actors. transformations. So, it isn’t important where we are The energy to confront difficulties always came struggling but what we are struggling for. Those acti- from the solidarity among those who struggle. For that vated forces constitute the new way of realizing the reason, mystique has not only helped transform the class struggle in order to overcome the old exploitation large land tracts into inhabited and cultivated lands of human beings by human beings. but has above all changed people from the inside. They The popular masses, in their own way, sustain a have become more sensitive to the problems of others project for change. Nobody likes to think that a child and have undertaken to resolve those problems as if who is still to be born will inherit the misery of their they were their own. parents. On the contrary, those who are still to be born Without mystique this story would not have hap- will be proud in the future for having had us as food pened. The masses would have give up their resistance for hope, because as much as we might focus on the very quickly. The leaders would have become corrupt immediate conquests, it is of them that we are thinking. and allied themselves with the criminals, and the land The mystique of the popular project is the collec- would be even more dominated by the large landown- tive elaboration of the people who rebel against the ers and would not have served to generate respectful exploiting and oppressive elite. The ways of organizing cultivators. vary, whether in the type organizing or in the way class Mystique in the popular project is structured or according to the territory or housing. There are three elements that became fundamental What is important is the movement that each force in the history of the social struggles in which mystique creates in order to collectively move in the direction of is present as an incentive for transformation: organiza- the same transformation. tion, the Cause and awareness. The social movements had the audacity to con- Organization is the tool of struggle. The period we struct without manuals. For that reason a new con- have lived through has taught us that, when the peo- sciousness arose with them and a new way of being ple are disorganized or dispersed, they do not have any agents of history with a mystique that prevents them strength, enthusiasm or conditions to confront those from being destroyed. who are fostering violence. Mystique in this journey is more than what nour- The Cause is the project, the reason for which we ishes the one who is walking. It is also the hunger that struggle. Mystique needs perspectives. It needs to look does not cease or sleep until we reach the place where at the horizon where dreams are found while they wait we want to be. The agent of this history no longer lives for the advances to happen. The project is the conduc- for him- or herself but for the collectivity. The certain- tor of the march that unites the historic distances of ty that this Cause will conquer lies in the fact that we the past and the future. have learned to walk hand in hand. In this way no one Awareness is the acquired wisdom that casts out gets lost along the paths of history. q 215 A New Christianity for a New World About a book by John Shelby Spong Former Bishop of Newark, NJ, USA

Fifty years ago it was said that we were experienc- times into this world and intervene in it in a miracu- ing an era of “profound and accelerated changes.” lous way.” “I do not believe in a divinity that helps Since then, they say we are “not so much in an epoch a nation win a war, that intervenes in the healing of of changes as in a change of epoch.” After twenty a loved one, that permits a certain team to beat its years of saying all this, one might presume that we opponent.” That classical image of God as a superior are already in that new age, in a new world. And the Being, Almighty Lord, intervener..., what is called question is: For that new world, is religion as we have “theism,” has been surpassed, says Spong. In our known it still relevant? modern world there is no longer any place for theism. Traditionally, religions have said that however He exposes in detail cases and aspects in which to- much the world might change, they are and will al- day’s modern mentality, with its scientific foundation, ways be the same. However, increasingly there are cannot admit to the existence of a god with those those who think just the opposite and who dare to characteristics. think it out and demonstrate it. One of those people The central thesis of Spong is that the religious is John Shelby Spong, retired bishop of the [Episco- experience of humanity is and has been fundamen- pal] Church of Newark, N.J. He has written a book tally the same. However, the explanation, the images entitled, A New Christianity for a New World: Why Tra- with which humans have represented and explained ditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being that spiritual experience for itself, have frequently Born. His message is challenging, provocative and changed throughout time and have to radically invites dispute. change today because their religious experience can Older Christians will remember that during the 60s be sustained by human beings today only within a in the last century, another bishop, John A. T. Robin- post-theist framework. There can be a strong experi- son, published a book, Honest to God, which provoked ence of the Divinity but without the mythical belief a huge reaction because it criticized the common that there is a superior, all-powerful and miraculous image of that time about God. He proposed that there being out there. That is no longer possible. Thus, in was much that needed to be surpassed in that image. order for it to be possible to be religious today, we Spong, who also felt moved by that Best Seller when need to reorganize the whole set of explanations that he was young, takes up the witness and proposes to we inherited from our elders, experiences that were continue the reflection. It’s just that he goes further, created in a different world, that were pre-scientific, as befits someone writing 50 years later. It’s not just naïve, mythical, a world that is not ours. that we need to correct some things in the image we Assuredly, we need to maintain the profound have of God; rather we need to overcome that image spiritual experience of human beings, stripping it of itself; we need to overcome “theism.” This is Spong’s all those theistic explanations that are unacceptable main proposal and in his book he presents it in a way today. that is both pedagogical and systematic. Broadly, Spong defends the idea that theism, the Spong begins by confessing that he is a con- concrete and age-old religious explanation, is empty vinced, believing Christian: “I believe that God is real and is dying in today’s society. and that I live in a profound relationship with that He then goes on to search for the origin of the- divine Reality, and I believe that my life is marked in ism. How did it arise? He looks into the Christian a decisive way by Jesus.” tradition, which is his own. He goes through the Still, he then adds, “I do not define God as a be- sacred Christian texts, the gospels and the letters of ing,” a supernatural being that dwells somewhere out Paul. He discovers how the first texts that we know there in a higher place, with the ability to enter at of regarding Jesus do not present him as an incarna- 216 tion of a visiting God who has come from outside in ers. That means that they can send missionaries out order to save us. And he gradually shows how each to conquer the world. In the new vision, all these text added a new reflection about Jesus until, finally, claims on power and dominion have to be abandoned. theism “took over” Christianity with the final results The mission continues to have meaning, but in an- that we know. Theism was added on to what Jesus other way that Spong explains beautifully. originally was. Spong reasons that if it is an addition, “Prayer” also has a different meaning. If there it can be separated out. And it is more reasonable to is no longer out there a powerful supernatural being do so today since, he says, we live in a time in which who can but his hand to human affairs, what good theism is dead, in which we can no longer be theists. is prayer? Spong acknowledges that he continues to But then, who is Jesus? What is he? How can he pray, but that, since he has overcome theism, his be explained outside of a supposed theism? prayer has taken a 180° turn. He lays that out, re- Before trying to explain Jesus, we need to situate flects on it and gives witness to it. him in an adequate framework because the context A final topic taken up in his book has to do with in which they transmitted him is clearly inadequate how there can be a “Church” in a post-theist Christi- today. We need to understand the basic nucleus of anity. It appears in continuity with the current view, Christianity, its “basic myth,” in a new way. What is but is quite different at the same time. Those human that? Spong explains that there is a double aspect: beings among us who have come into a divine dimen- incarnation and redemption. The incarnation is un- sion through Jesus will still need to come together, derstood as the external coming to earth of a god sharing, recalling our history, celebrating our rituals, who is introduced into Jesus in order to represent the nourishing our spirituality, but without those struc- drama of an expiatory sacrifice that placates God for a tures and relationships of power that reproduce the primordial sin that the first human couple committed intervening and paternalistic power of an external and so save all humanity. This central nucleus, this theistic God. basic myth, needs to be replaced. And, in the first For Spong, the most important thing is to opt instance, it needs to be deconstructed. clearly for the future, to hold on to the permanent For Spong, God is not “out there,” and cannot spiritual experience, and to sense our freedom with have “come.” There was no original sin and there were respect to the explanations that have been made no broken relationships to mend. Nor was any redemp- about all that. These are secondary, can be dispensed tive expiation necessary. All this takes up an entire with and can be improved. chapter. Spong is an author, a Christian companion, and The climax of Spong’s work is the chapter in which even more a bishop, who is speaking a powerful word, he tries to understand “Jesus beyond the incarna- one that is challenging, reasonable and well reasoned. tion: a non-theist divinity.” The author recovers and For that reason, his message deserves to be heard and re-expresses faith in Jesus, his Lord, in a beautiful reflected upon. For those who do not frequent the way, reaffirming his personal experience but beyond “frontiers” of thinking and who live the spiritual di- the theist categories: a “new portrait” of Jesus, a new mension in settings that are more traditional, Spong’s vision with its explanations, but still rooted in the thesis could seem shocking or even dangerous. It same Christian spiritual experience. might be a good thing to become better informed: to If the image of Jesus changes, Christianity, which read him, reflect, debate, share.... The most probable consists in following his message, also changes. In conclusion is that we all need to have our religious the final chapters, Spong passes in review various convictions shaken up occasionally in one way or important themes that end up deeply modified by another. We need to confront them with challenging the new vision. One of them is that of “mission.” All authors like John Shelby Spong. theist religions have felt the temptation to superior- The book was published by HarperSanFrancisco, ity and power: they and only they have the complete New York in 2001 (276 pages). It is suitable for group truth by which it is justified--even more, “it is the study and debate or even for inclusion in a formation will of God”--that they impose their message on oth- or renewal course. q 217 Another Church is Necessary and Possible Going back to Medellín Jon Sobrino San Salvador, El Salvador 1. The Prophecy: “Another Church Is Necessary” does not make Medellín obsolete: God is in the poor There are many good things in the Church in Latin and the crucified, together with and alongside them. America: recent encounters in Ecuador in memory of As in Isaiah and Amos, the oppressed are in the center, Leonidas Proaño; in Chiapas, celebrating with Don bringing unity to all of their oracles. Medellín did not Samuel Ruíz; in San Salvador in the 30th anniversary of suppress anything, but as Jesus did, it put everything the martyrdom of Monseñor Romero; and above all, in in its right place. the life, work, commitment, endurance, hope, and faith The demand to return to Medellín may appear to of countless peoples and communities. be a mistake. Given the historical changes, no mimicry The deterioration in the Church and its tiredness is possible, and besides, it is not desirable, because cannot be hidden when compared to Medellín. For an- it destroys the hope that is always new. We must re- other Church to be possible, conversion is necessary, member three things: 1. Acknowledging the distances, by Néstor Medina Translated to seek fountains of living water and, once found, to it would also be a mistake to attempt to return to the return to them. Among us, this is a return to Medellín. Passover of Jesus, above all, the crucified one–which is Then and there an irruption of the poor and an irrup- very difficult not because it is the past but because it tion of God in them took place that gave birth to a new is the cross– 2. When they dreamed of a better future, Church, communities, bishops and priests, religious life, the prophets referred to the origin, not because it oc- seminaries, lay movements of men and women, theol- curred in the past, but because it was the beginning ogy, pastoral work, liturgy, and, above all, martyrs that that originated salvific realities. Thus, they spoke of a remembered Jesus. Something like that has never hap- new exodus, remembering the reality and the demands pened before. that accompanied the old. 3. Never has the Church, in Medellín has not disappeared entirely, but as a Medellín and with Monseñor Romero, better overcome whole, especially in its institutional hierarchical di- the temptations that have threatened it since the mension, the Church has been distancing itself from beginning: docetism, which is to say, the unreality of it, when it has not turned its back on it, with notable being in the world; and gnosticism, which is to say, the exceptions. Instead, spiritualizing and integrationist unreality of offering salvation, a temptation that Mark movements have proliferated, worldly and oblivious of saw with all clarity from the beginning—for this reason the Jesus of the Gospel. he presented a real Jesus who could not be manipulat- It is not easy to maintain alive “Medellín” because ed. Not even in the Council was the Church as real as it of its demands, just as it is not easy to maintain alive was in “Medellín.” Let us not forget what Comblin says: the Gospel. Moreover, from the powerful of the world, “another Medellín can happen.” and sometimes from the institutional church, hard and 2. Utopia: “Another Church Is Possible” lasting campaigns against it have taken place. In the There is also hope, but not of just any another seventies, war was declared on it. Puebla managed to Church. We mention some of the dimensions of that maintain it with dignity. In Santo Domingo, that it Church for which we ought to work, insisting, dialecti- was forgotten could not be hidden. In Aparecida, steps cally, only in those points that imply conversion and were taken to reverse this. Its spirit has been recovered utopia. somewhat, but not sufficiently. a) A Church of the suffering poor. This the founda- The conversion to Medellín must be historicized. tional beginning. An immersed Latin American Church The poor who irrupt today do not only lack [the mate- of mestizos, indigenous, and Afro-Americans, together rial], they are excluded, indigenous, and Afroamericans, with Europeans. A local Church with its own culture, and, more and more, women and children. The God that opened to other cultures, especially African and Asian. irrupts is Jesus’ God, but with great respect to those Evangelizing, moved by the Spirit to announce to the of other religions. This historicization is necessary, but poor the good news and–without ignoring the spirit 218 of the year of grace–to threaten with bad news the Ríobamba in 1976, and in Washington Street in Puebla powerful and the oppressors, so that Luke 6: 20-26 can in 1979; thankful to fellow brothers, “fathers of the prevent the neutralization of Mt 5: 3-11, so that it be Latin American Church,” four of them martyrs, Angelelli, the poor with spirit. Evangelizing in poverty, without Ponce de León, Romero, and Ramos, and Dom Helder power and stripped of any arrogance in the face of and Casaldáliga, who were saved by the mistakes of the other churches and religions. Let men and women reli- killers; and thankful to Paul VI in Mosquera and Medellín. gious take seriously the poverty they vowed and let the e) A Church of Jesus, the one from Nazareth, that hierarchy ask itself—as it did in Medellín—if it lives in he may not be diluted in the midst of all kinds of devo- poverty or not. We need a Church that is respectful and tions. Let the Jesus that irrupted among the poor and friendly to reason and the freedom of the poor, without with his God remain alive, who caused so much joy to treating them like infants, so that an adult faith does the poor and so much fear to the oppressors. Let what not endanger their ingrained obedience to ecclesial au- was said by the Grand Inquisitor, “go and come no thority. And above all, we need a Church that enters the more,” not happen. It is this Jesus we must follow. It world of the poor, is moved with their suffering, and is the way to Christ and the assurance that Christ does makes it her own, considers it as something ultimate, not end up being another symbol of power. that touches the ultimate historically, and, in this way, f) A Church of God, the one referred to in these becomes theologal. quotations. Guamán Poma: “God remembers the small- b) A Church of the people. Ellacuría used to say that est one.” Puebla: for being poor “God defends them and “it is difficult to speak of Monseñor Romero without loves them.” Monseñor Romero: “Please tell me, broth- talking about the people.” Let the Church herself be the ers and sisters, that the fruit of my preaching be that people, not an institution; close to everybody, but more each one of us finds God, and that we live the happi- to popular groups. Let it consider the poor as origina- ness of his majesty and of our smallness.” Calsaldáliga: tors of their destiny, conscientious, organized, and “Everything is relative but God and hunger.” active in order to struggle for truth and justice, to- g) A Church of martyrs, of consequential mercy with gether with universities, and even seminaries. We need the poor. This is what has characterized the Church of a prophetic Church, helped by social doctrine, but with Medellín the most. With this we close the circle that the suffering of the oppressed first in view. A Church began with the suffering of the poor: an immense cloud that unifies God and the people, as Monseñor Romero of witnesses, bishops, priests, religious, countless lay [said] in his last homily in the Cathedral: “in the name people, and admirable Christians. Martyrdom is the of God, and in the name of the suffering people, whose “greatest love” and one cannot go beyond it, but we laments go up to heaven more tumultuously every day: can be precise. In Latin America, lives have been given I plead, I beg, I order you, in the name of God: cease not for any love but for defending the victims, poor the repression.” majorities, innocent and defenseless. That Church has c) A Church of women: Let them speak and encour- been martyred for being, as Jesus was, merciful to the age them to speak, even if what they say hurts pre- end. Martyrs are those who are merciful with conse- cisely because it is true. Without women, the Church quences; the fathers and mothers of the Latin American sinks—and many times entire countries sink. They offer Church. Because of them, the deterioration is not great- dedication, wisdom, and simplicity, which are lacking er, and because of these men and women, what is best in the institution. We must not disrespect women with in our Church lives on. Times change, but the temple of simplistic exegesis so we can to continue as we are, the martyrs continue to be necessary: the decision to maintaining a men’s monopoly on the sacred power that risk oneself and not flee from conflict in order to de- grants ministry. fend millions of victims. d) A Church of “good shepherds”—a problem that God knows in what measure “another Church is pos- cannot be hidden—with new attitudes to configure sible,” but, until the end, Ellacuría did have hope in a the hierarchy: fraternity, liberty, and joy, and against civilization of poverty and in a Church of the poor. And submission, imposition, and fear of Rome; the flavor of in God. “New men, who continue to announce firmly, the “covenant of the catacombs”; going hand in hand although always in the dark, a future always greater, with the poor and not with the potentates; collegiality because beyond successive historical futures we see the foremost, that of friendship with others, as it was in saving God, the liberating God.” q 219 Popular Religion Priests for the Option for the Poor Buenos Aires, Argentina, www.curasopp.com.ar

Saying that God arrived in the Americas before religious expressions that have not enjoyed been seen the missionaries is now commonplace. And this is as authentic “reception” and have ended up disap- not anything else than what the martyr Saint Justin pearing or being transformed. But there are others called “the seeds of the Word,” in order to talk about that resist time, history, and “official” pastoral work. the many common elements that he saw between the Greek philosophers and the Scriptures. Even to the It is certain that there also exist forms of religios- point of comparing more than one with the Biblical ity that clearly have a increasing adherence but that prophets. Additionally, this is not any different from seem disconnected from the following of Jesus or what has been called the “transcendental argument of the construction of a more just world. Jon Sobrino existence,” affirming that in truth, unity, and beauty, puts his finger on it: “a religiosity predominates that “existence” appears in some way. we can call ‘what makes us happy:’ healing for our own benefit, an understandable desire, but danger- It cannot be but obvious that such truth, beauty, ous if causes us to ignore the exigency of following; and spirit, “uniting” with the Gospel, many times innumerable expressions of praise, sometimes well went beyond the control that “the Church” could have chosen, others in an more individualistic, intimate over “religion.” While the Roman Church proposed and line; pilgrimages, sometimes to far places, a mix of imposed European models of living one’s faith, the devotion and tourism. I don’t want to exaggerate, but “poor of the earth” were discovering gaps and spaces I feel that that the popular religiosity of yesteryear where they could find God and live their faith in their was sturdier. And, certainly, to be the Church of Je- own language, in their own culture. This has caused a sus it had to pay a high price; tensions and internal profound synthesis that has marked our culture from arguments, always painful; external conflicts with the the beginning, and has continued to flourish with the powerful and with oppressors; insults and persecu- centuries. It is true that the “learned” and “European” tions. Not now.” (Letter to Ignacio EllacurÌa 2008). sectors have dismissed all this through their ethno- In Argentina, we see popular religiosity connected centrism: “one can’t compare Greek philosophy with to the Kingdom of God, connected to solidarity with Mayan or Incan myths,” or “this is syncretism.” It is the neighbor in prayer, novenas, and sharing what clear why an Egyptian obelisk with a small cross in St. little there is, the demand for bread and work in the Peter’s Square is “the evangelization of cultures,” and sanctuaries of Saint Cayetano, and in demonstrations, “Indian theology” is syncretic... popular demands, and road closures, with images of the Virgin heading up social protests. Throughout the centuries, many roads were being opened and many were being closed. This same peo- In this sense, it is interesting to follow the ple, that received the spirit before the missionaries evolution that the topic has had from MedellÌn to arrived, was living an authentic “reception” of its re- Puebla--with the clear influence of Evangelii Nunti- ligiosity, and the pathways that it proposed. It would andi--passing through Santo Domingo until arriving at seem that the theological category that deals with Aparecida. It does not cease to be picturesque, in this how the Holy Spirit accompanied the simple people last document, that our bishops and Roman delegates before the hierarchs came(J. Ratzinger) should also be talk about our popular religiosity (DA 43), although used to talk about God in regards to this people as it not many of them can be seen dancing, making pil- continues to move through history. In both the past grimages, or touching images. A privileged place of and present, there have been many ephemeral popular this religiosity are the sanctuaries, the small and large 220 ones, which continue being the places most people ity, and without an authentic response to suffering is approach in order to experience the encounter with presented to us. A good example of this can be seen the Other and with others. But for many sectors of the in the capacity of discovering this integrating anthro- “Official Church,” this expression is seen as a fetish in pology, which includes the body, the senses, and one need of “evangelizing” although, on the other hand, another in popular celebrations, as compared to an they make use of it to demonstrate how the institu- elite anthropology which almost exclusively relates to tion still can convene people. What is certain is that “the mind,” in “official” celebrations. Isn’t it evident sanctuaries are the people’s place to encounter the that the Eucharistic celebration in its Roman rite is holy and the Holy One. And in this sense it is impos- clearly European, and everything is a “word,” while in sible to detain the Spirit, “that blows where it will,” popular celebrations, colors, smells, music, pilgrim- although we do not know “from where it comes nor ages, dances, instruments, and singing are included? where it is going.” (John 3:8). We are now celebrating the year of the priest, Something that seems very important for us to proposing a model of being a priest as mediator be- state clearly is that it is very different to talk about tween God and men. Popular religiosity invites us to “popular religiosity” and “popular pastoral practice.” celebrate life from other places, with other altars and other ministries. Other men and women become me- In our pastoral work, in the midst of the poor, in diators. In this type of popular religiosity, we are not general, faced with the new and old experiences of lacking for vocations, they are overflowing (although popular religiosity--precisely because of the differ- this interesting and important theme is outside the ence between religiosity and pastoral practice--we scope of this reflection). have chosen, on principle, to let ourselves be guided by a “hermeneutic of suspicion,” taken from feminist It is true that we are in an era of change that is theology. That is to say, we are suspicious of our own still hard to make sense of. Certainly the changes that viewpoint, which can often be elite or European, we see coming are not like those of years or centuries recognizing on principle that the faith of the people past. How will popular religiosity deal with this? What is a true faith, and that it leads to a true wisdom. image of God will it discover and reveal in its faith? We do not deny that there can be elements that obscure this faith, but the resistance of 500 years, the It is difficult to predict in this moment. There are a maintenance of a true popular Latin American and few elements that can be negatively seen: it seems Caribbean faith, and the confidence in the Spirit that that the number of baptisms has been reduced, the guides and leads towards “reception,” invites us to phenomenon of disbelief or agnosticism--before lim- be very careful in our analysis and viewpoint. This is ited only to “intellectual” environments--is starting especially because of the number of times we have to be seen in popular environments (this only seems seen religious expressions we first viewed with worry to be absent in ecclesial documents; for example, this abandoned, with others taken up by the people with a was ignored in Aparecida); but, additionally, popular new meaning. religious demonstrations continue increasing: the pil- grimage by foot to Luján--for example--last year had Looking at the religious faith of the poor, their a historic number of pilgrims (more than 1,300,000 love of the Virgin, their insistence on baptism, and according to the calculations of the police, walked the their capacity for resistance when confronted with 70 kilometers that separate the city of Buenos Aires suffering and the cross, found in their faith, lived from the Sanctuary). Confronted with the newness as a people, in solidarity and with the capacity to that is forming, it is important for us to trust in the celebrate, we recognize that these are nothing but synthesis that the people will continue to produce, unquestionable elements with which popular religios- guided by the Spirit, with its own capacity of purifica- ity enriches us. This is especially the case when an tion, and to continue believing that God will speak elite faith, ritualistic, individualistic, without solidar- before the missionaries do. q 221 The Verdict on Religion José Antonio Marina Madrid, Spain

The 19th Century prematurely issued a death cer- veracity—thinking about the divine has expanded the tificate to religion, but reality hasn’t complied with expectations of human beings and the way that they these expectations. Religious ideas continue drawing understand themselves. I believe that this is what human interest. “The role of religions in the world is Horkheimer was referring to when he said that reli- increasing rather than decreasing,” writes J. Runzo gion is the longing for the totally other: “In truly free in Ethics in the World Religions. In 1965, Harvey Cox, thinking, the concept of the infinite preserves society spokesman of secularization, predicted the decline of from an imbecilic optimism, of absolutizing and con- religion in his bestseller The Secular City. But in 1985 verting one’s own knowledge into a new religion.” he had to admit: “The world of religion in decline, to Horkheimer connected that “longing for the to- which I directed my first book, has begun to change tally other” with the hope in a perfect justice, which in a way that few people could foresee. More than an permits me to speak of the most notable contribution era of rampant secularization and religious decline, of religions to the progress of humanity: its role in it seems to be an era of religious resurgence and a the moral humanization of the species. This is the as- return to the sacred.” Since then, this fragmented and pect in my work I have studied in more detail. There chaotic renovation has continued, although related to is a particularly important moment in the history of fundamentalist and fanatical politics. In many cases, religions, one in which a terrible god is converted religion has become an identity marker, which is not into a kind god. I think religious morals have evolved good news. into a universal ethic, to which they should submit Dilthey said that human beings cannot be known themselves. Ethics is the work and at the same time through introspection, but through studying those the limit of religious morals. History tells us that reli- activities that they have assiduously devoted them- gion has been manipulated in many cases, that there selves to throughout history. Culture is, in a sense, is no brutality or generosity that has not been done an expression of the human essence, its unfolding. in the name of God, and that, at this time, it looks Well, humans have always tried to understand reality, more like a danger than a salvation. But the closer we explain things, create languages, paint, make music, approach the great religious figures, the more we are establish norms, and invent religions. Religiosity impressed by their pure vision of reality. forms part of our vital repertoire. A few months ago, These contradictions of the religious phenomenon an editorial press challenged me to write a book to made me ask a few years ago whether at this stage it respond to the following question: Has religion con- still made sense to be religious, or whether religious tributed to the progress of humanity? I accepted the was a superstitious remnant embedded in modern challenge and I am now working on it. Religion as the culture. To answer that question, I wrote The Verdict acceptance of a symbolic world superior to the vis- on God. The main conclusions were the following: ible world in power, perfection, and goodness, related to an absolute reality—whether God, Brahman, Tao, 1. All religions have in common a reference to a Mana, or whatever—has been instrumental in allow- deeper reality—powerful, good, or spiritual—than ing human beings to define themselves, as limited everyday reality. Some identify it with God and others beings in relation to the unlimited. Descartes tried to do not—there are theistic and non-theistic religions. demonstrate the existence of God from the fact—sur- 2. Religions have had a mixed and unreliable ori- prising to him— that human intelligence could be gin in which many different concerns and experiences capable of producing the idea of God. The argument is are intermingled: fear of chaos, the need to find ex- not conclusive, but it emphasizes that—apart from its planations, to seek salvation, to organize society, the 222 interest in ensuring the sacredness of power and rule, a) The compatibility of its moral principles with numinous and ecstatic experiences, dreams, revela- universal ethical principles and its ability to perfect tions, intoxication, terrors, and the desire to find them and accomplish them. meaning in life. b) The proximity of religion to religious experi- 3. In this confusing conglomerate of feelings and ence, rather than church discipline. beliefs, some revolutionary personages emerged who c) Confidence in the ability of intelligence to changed the course of humanity: Moses, Zoroaster, bring human beings to God. Irrationalism such as Karl the prophets of Israel, Buddha, Laotse, Confucius, Barth’s continues to be suspicious. Mahavira, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, and oth- d) If based on Scripture considered sacred, its ers. They communicated their experiences, convinced capacity to free itself from a literal interpretation. and fascinated others, and determined the course of e) The decision not to use dogmatic immunization humanity. systems which invalidate any criticism or any new 4. Religions are based on private experiences that experience. For example, saying that what the Bible escape scientific corroboration. They provide security says is true because its author is God, who can nei- to those who accepts them, but they differ on how to ther deceive nor be deceived...closes off all possibility achieve that security. They can derive from a divine of discussion. gift, the illumination of a transfigured conscience, f) The purity of its transmission, which involves the imitation of a master, the practice of a method, not using coercive means, not limiting information purity of heart, or the effects caused by the voluntary given to the faithful, freedom of discussion, not using acceptance of a belief. The fact that they are founded fear as a method of indoctrination, and respect for upon a private experience tells us nothing about other religions. their truth or falsity, but only on their peculiar mode g) The separation of political power and the rejec- of verification or corroboration. They are “private tion of force to impose beliefs. truths,” placed upon a person in the most intimate place, in the conscience, but these cannot be univer- Clarifying the relationship between ethics and reli- salized through a demonstrative method. gion seems to me a matter of historical transcendence 5. It is necessary to affirm an ethical principle of because the immediate history of humanity will de- truth: “No private truth can be used to criticize an pend on how this problem is resolved. I think religion intersubjective truth, or to guide a behavior that can must continue to maintain that longing for the ab- harm another person.” solutely other, which Horkheimer talked about, so we 6. It is possible to establish an ethic, understood have the energy for the task in which we are involved as a transcultural moral system, to serve as a broad of dignifying the human being. This includes rejecting framework in which to place relationships between the closure of the natural, pragmatic, economic, and the religious and secular worlds, and the different technical world. For me it is an attitude of poetic and religions between themselves. It originates from creative rebellion. It seems important that religions religions, and from the dynamism of the search for make the effort to recuperate their initial purity in perfection generated by them, but ends up being a order to free themselves of historical garbage and criterion for evaluating their own religious morality. convert themselves into second generation religions, In fact, it is easier for religions to agree on ethical that is to say, into ethical religions, more preoccu- issues than on dogmatic issues. pied by theopraxis than by theology. In Why I Am a 7. Within many religious traditions, good conduct Christian, I maintained that Christianity changed its and purity of heart are the main ways to access reli- course when faith changed from meaning accepting gious experience. the way of living proposed by Jesus to meaning the 8. From the above arguments and from an under- acceptance of a group of philosophical-theological standing of the history and evolution of religions and formulations proposed by the church. I still think that theologies, it is possible to derive evaluation criteria this is one of the most important debates of the mo- for religions, including the following important aspects: ment. q 223 Believing in Another Way Andrés Torres Queiruga Santiago de Compostela, Spain In the Gospel we have the best, unsurpassable this way, the general belief continues to thrive that image of God that has appeared in history. But long suffering, disease, and death originate from a divine centuries of contamination have distorted it to the decision, even if it is in the form of punishment. point of making it unrecognizable on many points 2) Bound with this idea is the idea of the creation that are not always the less important ones. Here, of man and woman for the “glory” of God and for his looking at the basic concepts, I will indicate some service. Those words can have an acceptable meaning, that are crying out with special urgency to be tho- but in the normal way of thinking they have been roughly gone over, grouping them in three chapters. taken literally: it is God who demands we serve him Against a Distorted Reading of Creation in order to save our souls; otherwise, punishment Although it is on the way to being overcome, one will come. Feuerbach supported his atheism there: of the greatest problems than pulls at current theo- because God is everything, man must be nothing. In logy is the literal or fundamentalist reading of the fact, the opposite is true: in creating us, God has not

Bible. In a very special way, it affects nothing less thought of himself, but only and solely in our welfare. Dougherty by Michael Translated than the wonderful stories of creation in Genesis. In Using this language, it would have to be said rather them, with the deep symbolism of mythical language, that, as reflected in Jesus, it is God who serves us, we are told of the intention of God who does not seek because he loves us and we need him. more for us than fulfillment, love and happiness. This 3) Morality, far from being the word of love and is what the symbol of paradise means: the goal to the promise of help that orients and helps us towards which we are destined. Evil stands in opposition to true happiness, becomes a burden imposed by God. that goal; for that reason the Bible puts it outside of Kant denounced this conception as unworthy and in- God. The mythical narration, preoccupied by calling fantilized. The worse thing is that it makes the effort, us to goodness, pays attention above all to human the discipline, and even the sacrifice that - for ever- sin, that, as the first chapters show – from the murder yone, be they believers or not - morality often entails of Cain to universal corruption – has done so much seem like something God has imposed on a whim, and damage. But to take it literally, turning what only not because it would help life be easier for us. Surely intends to be a moral exhortation into a physical or it never will be possible to measure the amount of metaphysical explanation, leads to crazy ideas. resentment that this horrible conception has accumu- 1) Beginning now with original sin: even after lated in the conscience of many believers. being recognized as mythical, the specific narration 4) All of this reaches its intolerable climax in the of the tree, the fruit, and the serpent nevertheless idea of hell, as punishment for someone who “did not perpetuates the terrible idea that the horrific evils serve” or “did not comply.” In short, God, who loves of the world are a divine punishment because of the without limits and pardons without conditions, ends historic error committed by our ancestors. With this, up being described as punishing--for all eternity and two monstrous conceptions are being hammered into with unheard of torments--our always small errors, the the collective unconscious : a) God is capable of pu- fruits of a weak and limited freedom. The advance of nishing in so horrible a way, and b) God does it to sensibility has brought about in our time a generali- billions of descendants who don’t have the least guilt zed opposition to the death penalty and even to life in that one supposed error. On top of that, it reinfor- in prison. Are we humans better than God? ces the idea - so wide spread and so harmful - that, 5) The vision of sin marches in parallel. Thomas in the last instance, if there is evil in the world, it Aquinas already had said that sin is not bad because is because God wanted it and wants it, as paradise it does evil to God, but because it does evil to us: be- would otherwise be possible on the Earth and, on cause we do not offend God more than in the measure top of that, punishment would not be meted out. In that we act against our own well-being. Nevertheless, 224 a great part of theology and preaching continues price that he demanded, as a punishment necessary to ignoring that what is fundamental is God’s interest appease his wrath. that we not do harm to ourselves, that we not spoil It is painful to use these expressions, but, incre- our own life and ruin our own fulfillment. The father dible as it seems, they can still be found―for example, of the prodigal son does not worry about his honor taking literally the abandonment on the cross―in im- or insult, he is concerned that the son was dead, portant theologians of our time: not only Luther and and he has returned to life; he was lost, and he has Calvin, who were still nearly in the middle ages, but been found. Along with moralistic deformation, it has also in Barth, Moltmann and Urs von Balthasar, to caused, in the depths of the consciousness of many cite some of the greats. I insist, because, although I people, the idea growing like a poisonous worm that do not question their good intention, it is indispensa- sin would be wonderful for us, but we cannot enjoy ble to avoid everything that can obscure the infinite it because God forbids it to us. In other words: God love of the Father. From faith, in a non-fundamenta- does not want us to be happy. list interpretation, we must be sure that God never Against a Distorted Reading of Redemption was so near his Son as when they were breaking him If that happens to the creation, the consequences on the cross (he did not abandon him), and he never can be felt with more force in the redemption. The would have allowed his death, if it were possible to marvel that we could never be able to imagine on our avoid it (He didn’t want the agony in the Garden). own, of a God that becomes present in history in a 3) Finally, there is something that, at its heart, thousand ways and with infinite patience in order to is much more serious, because it encompasses go about helping us to overcome evil and sin, is, for everything: the belief that all the suffering of the many, turned into a terrible settling of accounts, with world is a punishment of God for a sin that, except a punishment in the beginning and a threat in the end. for Adam and Eve, the rest of us have not commit- 1) Already it starts with an inconceivable parti- ted; otherwise, if by chance God had decided not to cularism. A God who, creating for love, is from the punish us - that is to say, he was compassionate and beginning awakening salvation wherever there is a pardoned us - we would be living in a paradise. And man or a woman, that is to say, everywhere and, in then, in order to pardon us, he demanded nothing an express way, in all the religions, was presented for less than the bloody sacrifice of his Son. Finally, if we many centuries as preoccupied solely with a single do not behave ourselves, the eternal punishment of people: the chosen ones. The others remained outside hell waits for us (on which, with spelled out conse- of his revelation and his total salvation: extra eccle- quences, the ministry of fear has so insisted). siam nulla salus. At best, there was the hope - in a This scheme has become engraved as something type of marathon waiting list - that one day a mission so obvious upon thereligious imagination that it is would arrive to them (that for billions never arrived almost impossible for us to perceive its true hideous- nor will arrive). Fortunately, since Vatican II, this ness. Luckily, when it is explained, almost nobody horrible vision it is being superseded. But the effects takes it literally. That is why it is necessary to bluntly endure with intense sharpness: there continues being expose it in order to be able to reject it with all pos- much dogmatism and much exclusivism; too much sible force and to replace it with the true one, already resistance to a revision of the concept of revelation proposed in essence by St. Irenaeus in the 2nd cen- and to a generous dialogue among religions. tury: Creation in the inevitable weakness of birth; 2) More serious yet is the sacrificial vision of loving support of God in history despite our failures the entire process. The effort of God to intensify to and sin; culmination of that support in the saving the maximum his presence and to open paths to his fullness of Christ; and hope of total salvation in Glory. grace; his working through Jesus to reveal his love That is to say, the promise of birth and the hope of a without limits and his unlimited understanding of our glorious happiness. weakness and sin; his not turning back although such Against a Distorted Experience of Spirituality love would cost him nothing less than the murder As anticipated, that double vision that we finished of his beloved Son...all came to be interpreted as a outlining schematically ends up formulating the expe- 225 rience of faith in concrete life. life (Nietzsche). 1) The dualist vision is on the first level of impor- 4) Almost worse: that approach has obscured the tance, because it is the one that in some way orga- meaning of truly Christian suffering. Not the suffering nizes religious space. God there above and we here that looks for mere asceticism or one’s own perfec- down below, the sacred and the profane, that which tion, but one that, like Jesus’, is embraced when it pertains to God and that which belongs to us, the is necessary in order to love others. It is the work of church and the world... they mark the religious life service, it is risking one’s life in favor of justice, it with a cruel fire. It would be ingenuous to think that is being capable of self-renunciation in favor of the the distinction can be completely suppressed, becau- poor. It is, really, what the theology of the liberation se it responds to a real fact: the difference between and the example of their martyrs try to teach to us, God and his creation. But that difference is for the learning it from Jesus: he did not avoid the normal affirmation of our being: God does fight over territory joy of living, even being accused of being a “glutton with us. Quite the opposite: the more present he is, and drunkard” because he did not practice a false the more he makes us exist; the more we welcome his asceticism; but he was able to love “until the end,” action, so much more do we find fulfillment oursel- until giving his life for love of all. ves. The bad thing is in turning the difference into 5) Finally, we point out something less showy, but distance, the distinction into dualism, the support of decisive importance: the radical investment of the into imposition. Because then God becomes master Christian experience of grace, that came to change and religion consists of serving and appeasing him, in the meaning of prayer. Creating us for love, God takes requesting aid and favors from him, in order to secure the absolute initiative, as much to bring us into being his reward and to avoid his punishment. (creational moment) as to help us into fulfillment 2) A negative vision of life spontaneously deri- (salvific moment). For that reason, our role is to wel- ves from that conception. Redemption is separated come his initiative: to let us be and be saved by Him, from creation and opposed to it, in such a way that accepting his grace and collaborating with his action everything created ends up appearing indifferent to in us and others. But, insensitively, we have been faith, when not as bad and corrupted. Texts of the turning everything around up to the point to which Scripture, in themselves deep and venerable, are taken it seems that we have all the initiative, as if we were in the sense opposite to which, really, they mean. truly interested in salvation and we had to convince Thus, for example, the call to deny oneself or to lose God so that He also gets interested and collaborates one’s own life cannot mean the cancellation of our with us. Prayer then turns into a petition that dares being, but exactly the opposite: to deny our negation, to remind God of the needs of fellow human beings, that is to say, what damages our authentic being, seeking to convince him so that he helps the sick or that impedes our self-realization and reaching who- the victims; we can even go so far as to offer gifts leness. God does not want to annul our being, but to and sacrifices to him to cheer him up; and, finally, take it to its literally infinite fullness. we come to repeat to him a chorus urging that he be 3) The consequences have been serious. As a good and compassionate: that “he listen and have result an enemy of the body spirituality, distrustful mercy.” I know that these words are hard and unjust of all joy, was born, that opted for the fuga mundi given the intention of the petitioners. But it is ne- and agere contra as a global style. It put in place a cessary to detect this false direction and its terrible sacrificialist mood that unconsciously placed in the reversal of the roles between God and us. environment the belief that God is contented when he Coda sees us suffer or that he grants favors in exchange for I know well that there are objections and diffi- our gratuitous suffering or our sacrifices. It cannot be culties... But it is necessary to think about them and surprising that this has often resulted in the exces- speak them out loud. This primary evidence should ses that today terrify us (certain groups and certain spark us to new creativity and a sincere effort to shrines show that still there are too many remainders) update our understanding and experience of faith as and the accusations of Christianity being an enemy of we keep faithful to the living Word of God. q 226 A Call for a New Reform John Shelby Spong Bishop emeritus of Newark, NJ, EEUU Martin Luther ignited the Reformation of the 16th century by nailing to the door of the church in Wit- tenberg in 1517 the 95 Theses that he wished to debate. I will publish this challenge to all Christians in the bulletin of the Diocese of Newark, The Bishop’s Voice. Posting them also on the internet, I send these 12 theses to the recognized Christian leaders of the world, inviting them to a debate. My theses are far smaller in number than were those of Martin Luther, but they are far more threatening theologically. JS Spong.

1. Theism, as a way of defining God, is dead. God 7. Resurrection is an action of God, who raised can no longer be understood with credibility as a Jesus into the meaning of God. It therefore cannot be Being, supernatural in power, dwelling above the sky a physical resuscitation occurring inside human history. and prepared to invade human history periodically to 8. The story of the ascension assumed a three- enforce the divine will. So, most theological God-talk tiered universe and is therefore not capable of being today is meaningless unless we find a new way to translated into the concepts of a post-Copernican speak of God. space age. 2. Since God can no longer be conceived in the- 9. There is no external, objective, revealed stan- istic terms, it becomes nonsensical to seek to under- dard writ in Scripture or on tablets of stone that will stand Jesus as the incarnation of the theistic deity. govern our ethical behavior for all time. So, the Christology of the ages is bankrupt. 10. Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic 3. The biblical story of the perfect and finished deity to act in human history in a particular way. creation from which human beings fell into sin is pre- 11. The hope for life after death must be sepa- Darwinian mythology and post-Darwinian nonsense. rated forever from the behavior-control mentality of 4. The virgin birth, understood as literal biology, reward and punishment. The church must abandon, makes the divinity of Christ, as traditionally under- therefore, its reliance on guilt as a motivator of be- stood, impossible. havior. 5. The miracle stories of the New Testament can 12. All human beings bear God’s image and must no longer be interpreted in a post-Newtonian world as be respected for what each person is. Therefore, no supernatural events performed by an incarnate deity. external description of one’s being, whether based 6. The view of the cross as the sacrifice for the on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, can sins of the world is a barbarian idea based on primi- properly be used as the basis for cither rejection or tive concepts of God that must be dismissed. discrimination.

Author’s Note: These theses posted for debate are inevitably stated in a negative manner. That is deliberate. Before one can hear what Christianity is one must create room for that bearing by clearing out the misconceptions of what Christianity is not. Why Christianity Must Change or Die is a manifesto calling the church to a new reformation. In that book I begin to sketch out a view of God beyond theism, an understanding of’ the Christ as a God presence and a vision of the shape of both the church and its Liturgy for the future.

Pedagogical suggestions for study groups: complementing the topic with readings. -In a single session, read each thesis and have a de- - Invite the whole community to study the theme, bate by trying to see what the author is referring preparing everyone perhaps through an appropriate to and what is said as well as by discerning what brief course. seems correct. - In addition to this text, see what doesn’t fit well

- Organize a workshop with a session for each thesis, today in our faith and study that in community. q information. more for to www.johnshelbyspong.com go and on YouTube, out his videos check internet, on the 12 Theses Spong’s Find 227 We Lack New Religious Images Some of the TRADITIONAL IMAGES ARE SPENT AND EVEN HARMFUL José María VIGIL Panamá, Panamá SEEING: Specific problems of these three images What is reality according to religion? •The image of a Creator who created everything Any world view can be reduced to a few traits or out of nothing has its difficulties. If God always exist- basic images. In outline, what is the world, what is ed by himself, and he could have always existed like reality, as it is seen by religion? The vast majority of that, what is the meaning of reality? Is it a whim (of Christians would answer that reality is: God)? Could everything not have existed? Isn’t there -A God who lived alone forever, who one day de- anything that exists in itself? cided to create this fragile world, which continues to This image of creation completely eliminates the exist because he sustains its being; reality between the Creator and creation, emptying -An almighty Lord God who dictates his law moral this entity and reducing it to a mere contingency, to us so we can be incorporated into his Plan of Sal- only “sustained in its being by God.” A transcendent vation for the world, whose final triumph he guaran- God distant from the world would truly be the totality tees; of being. -A God the Father who tests us in this material But who says that reality is dual, and that there is world in order to later bring us to eternal life with a creative principle exiled from reality, entirely differ- him in heaven, after we are judged... ent and transcendent, and that the real reality that These are three basic schemes or “scenarios” by we know and are is pure emptiness and dependence? which reality is understood or imagined by religions, The world we live in today, and that the current sci- e.g., the monotheistic ones. And many believers think entific explosion presents us with, is incompatible the reality is just like this, literally. with that image. For a quite a while, this creation has JUDGING: not been plausible according to science. Can religion But reality, in itself, continues to remains an contradict it? inaccessible mystery. “Why does reality exist, rather This dualistic and split image harms us because than nothing?” asked Leibniz. Cultures--and religions it alienates us, removes any existential reality from within them--responded to this anguished unresolved the cosmos, and removes immanence from our world. question by picturing reality as any of these or other It prevents a unified holistic experience of transcen- “scenarios,” through creative and original images and dence and immanence: it makes us schizophrenic. metaphors, sometimes beautiful. Our ancestors were • The image of God as an almighty feudal Lord able to live with these schemes, which gave them a who we all must serve by virtue of being born in his purpose, an understanding of the world, a hope, a fiefdom, whose principle essential relationship with mission. humans is a relationship of total dominance-submis- But we ask ourselves, do these images “describe” sion, also has major problems. reality as it is? Obviously not; reality itself is a mys- Imagining God as a King who rules the world has tery that surpasses us. Only fundamentalists think every appearance of being a projection of patriarchal that reality is literally how religions traditions “de- agrarian society, which spread through cultures start- scribe” it. These traditions are symbolic: profound ing from the Neolithic era, when “religions” (not truths, not literal truths, not descriptive truths. Are religiosity) of the warrior, patriarchal, monarchical images perfect? Or can they have their drawbacks? God began to appear. Can they be improved upon? Are they eternal images But an image like this does not respond to our for “forever,” or do they expire? Can it be that some sensibility, our vision, our current situation. Today are not only obsolete, but even negative, harmful this “ontology of lordship and hierarchical-patriarchal today? domination” is unacceptable to us. Moreover, this im- 228 age absolves us of our responsibility when we believe ACTION: that God will save the world no matter what happens. Recognizing the nature of religious language This image hurts us in the present situation where We must be aware of the peculiarity of religious we live with the possibility of a final global disaster language: it is symbolic, metaphorical. It expresses (nuclear or climate) caused by humans because it “deep” truths. But it does not have the capacity or makes us blind to what we now see clearly: that the power to describe to us or inform us about reality, world is in our hands, and nobody will come to save the other world, material, and spirit. It is like poetry: it if we refuse to accept our responsibility. In this it tells us wonderful things and transmits profound concrete sense, the common religious discourse about experiences with lots of true content, but we should God as Lord harms humanity and the cosmos. not get confused by it, interpreting it literally instead • The image that we are souls currently reduced in of “poetically.” our spiritual condition, living for a short time chained Our ancestors interpreted the symbols literally, as to a material body, but destined to an eternal life in descriptions. We are the first generation that is seeing heaven after passing an individual judgment has been this epistemological cultural change. in force with much strength for millennia. No one has seen Ultimate Reality, but all people This view looks only at the historical drama of have needed to ask about it to live out our religious humans. They are the only important thing in reality: dimension. This inaccessibility has been supple- the rest of reality is accidental, additional, only props mented with intuition, imagination, creativity, sym- in a scene in which the spiritual salvation history of bols, and metaphors. Religious images made like this humans is represented. All material is an aspect or cannot be perfect (they are human) or endure forever negative marginal episode that will finally disappear... (because they wear out over time and lack foundation But we do not live in that dualistic world of mat- with advancement of knowledge). There may come a ter and spirit at odds. Those Platonic concepts are time when they not only cease to be useful, but even simply unacceptable once we open our eyes to today’s prove harmful. world, where the distinction between matter and Moreover, if we look at history, we see that tradi- spirit is increasingly uncertain. There is no matter tions, including ours, have never ceased to create new entirely devoid of selfhood, energy, and life. Particles images and to abandon others. It is not anything new. and waves, matter and energy, land and life, mind and Only now, the change is faster, more radical, more consciousness...are only different aspects of the same urgent, and, for the first time, conscious. single reality. We cannot think that we are expatriates The problem is complex and has no easy solution, of our original world, nor that we are competing for because metaphors do not come about by decree or by an individual salvation outside of this world. the brilliant imagination of one individual. They arise We no longer share this vision that the most from the collective subconsciousness of the time. important thing in the cosmos is the human being, What should we do then, just wait passively? It is along with our interests, history, and personal celes- possible to do many important things: become aware tial salvation. We want to live the religious dimension of the particularity of religious epistemology, over- in the real world of the cosmos, of Gaia, in a holistic come fundamentalism, recognize that our religious manner with all matter, energy, life, mind, spirit, and discourse does not describe reality, and consider the Divinity. Being the last to arrive, we have the privi- need to renew it, even when our community tranquilly lege to be trained to humbly and responsibly take on lives with its inherited ancestral images. There is no the co-governance of nature. need for people to change who do not feel the need, Many more things should be said about these and but it is important that they recognize the problem other images (we say a few things in complementary in order to understand what is happening with many materials) that seem discordant today, and that for people, and in order not to impede the necessary many Christians who live in accordance with the best transformation. advances in current thinking seem strange (original In the supplementary materials of this Agenda, we sin, redemption, heaven, hell). offer texts, reflections, and suggestions. q 229 Ten Tips for Living Religion in the 21st Century Frei Betto São Paulo, Brazil 1. Get reconnected. Avoid solipsism, individualism, fatal loneliness. Reconnect to the deepest part of your own self, where infinite goods are grown; to nature, of which we are all expression and conscience; to our neighbor, on whom we are inevitably dependent; to God, who loves us unconditionally. This is religion: recon- necting. 2. Keep in mind that religions emerged in the history of humanity about eight thousand years ago. Spiri- tuality, however, is as old as humanity itself. It is the foundation of every religion, like love is the foundation of the family. In your religion, seek to enhance your spirituality. Be wary of religion that does not cultivate spirituality and prioritizes dogmas, precepts, commandments, laws, and hierarchies. 3. Make sure your religion is centered on God’s greatest gift: life. Religion centered on authority, doctrine,

the idea of sin, or predestination is the opium of the people. “I came that you may have life and life in abun- by Rebeca Chabot Translation dance,” said Jesus (John 10:10). Therefore religion cannot stay indifferent to all which impedes or threatens life: oppression, exclusion, submission, discrimination, and disqualification of those who do not hold the same belief. 4. Commit yourself to a religious community committed to the enhancement of spirituality. Religion is communion. And give your community a social character: combat misery; be in solidarity with the poor and wronged; uncompromisingly defend life; denounce the structures of death; announce that “another world is possible,” one that is more just and free, where all can live with dignity and joy. 5. Internalize your religious experience. Turn your belief into your work. Reduce the contradiction between your prayer and your action. Do for others what you would have them do for you. Love others as God loves us: unconditionally. 6. Pray. Religion without prayer is like a menu without food. Take a moment of your day to encounter God within the most intimate part of yourself. Let the Holy Spirit polish your mind, unleash your inner self, expand your capacity for loving. 7. Be tolerant of other religions as you would want them to be of yours. Rid yourself of any fundamentalist tendency of thinking you own the truth and can best interpret the will of God. Engage in dialogue with those who have different beliefs than you. One who loves is not intolerant. 8. Remember: God has no religion. It is us, in institutionalizing different spiritual experiences, who have created religion. All religions are inserted into this world in which we live and they maintain an intrinsic interrelation. Every religion, in the society in which it appears, plays a political role, whether legitimizing injustices, remaining indifferent to them, or denouncing them prophetically in the name of the principle that we are all sons and daughters of God. Therefore, we have the right to make humanity a family. 9. A tree is known by its fruits. Assess whether your religion is loving or exclusionary, sower of blessings or herald of hell, servant of God’s project in human history or the power of money. 10. God is love. Religion which does not lead us to love is not of God. More important than having faith, embracing a religion, or going to church, is loving. “If I have a faith that can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing,” said the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13:2). Better an atheist who loves than a believer who hates, discriminates, and oppresses. Love is the root and the fruit of all true religions, the experience of God, and all authentic faith. q 230 22 Koinonia Services Sponsored by this «Latin american Agenda», in Spanish A meeting point of Latin American theology on the Net http://servicioskoinonia.org

1) Revista Electrónica Latinoamericana de Teología http://servicioskoinonia.org/cerezo http://servicioskoinonia.org/relat The weekly Sunday drawing and others. The first theological journal on the internet. 13) Galería de dibujos pastorales 2) Servicio Bíblico Latinoamericano http://servicioskoinonia.org/galeria http://servicioskoinonia.org/biblico 14) A Poster Offering for Ministry Commentaries for each day. Free weekly package http://servicioskoinonia.org/posters by e-mail for those who subscribe: in Portuguese, A series of posters, with a resolution high enough Spanish or Italian. For subscriptions, see below, #19. to be printed in full color and in large format. 3) Calendario litúrgico 2000-2036 15) Latin American Agenda Page http://servicioskoinonia.org/BiblicalLiturgicalCalendar http://latinoamericana.org Also in Spanish: servicioskoinonia.org/biblico/calendario The entry point for the Latin American Agenda. 4) «Páginas Neobíblicas» See the theme for each year, the invitations and the http://servicioskoinonia.org/neobiblicas results of the competitions, the places where you can A re-reading of the scenes, personages and top- obtain the Agenda in different countries or languages. ics... of the Bible, for biblical education and for cel- 16) Archive of the Latin American Agenda ebrations.... In Spanish. http://servicioskoinonia.org/agenda/archivo 5) Leonardo Boff’s Weekly Column (in Spanish) In 3 languages: Spanish, Catalán and Portuguese. http://servicioskoinonia.org/boff 17) TAMBO: Each Friday, a brief article from Leonardo, agile, http://servicioskoinonia.org/tambo journalistic, with current topics. For a delicious conversation in the context of an 6) Curso de teología popular internet community committed to the options we http://servicioskoinonia.org/teologiapopular tend to call “Latinamerican.” 7) Library 18) Servicio de «Novedades Koinonía» http://servicioskoinonia.org/biblioteca servicioskoinonia.org/informacion/index.php#novedades 4 «rooms»: general, teológica, bíblica and pastoral. Free subscription. You will be notified of any news 8) LOGOS in Koinonia (books, theological articles...) with a http://servicioskoinonia.org/logos brief e-mail message with links. Nothing heavy. Brief articles, various topics. 19) E-mail Service: 9) Martirologio Latinoamericano The weekly Biblical Service and Koinonia News are http://servicioskoinonia.org/martirologio distributed by e-mail (always free) and you can cancel The Latin American martyrs, day by day. at http://servicioskoinonia.org/informacion 10) La Página de Monseñor Romero 20) Koinonia: Digital Books http://servicioskoinonia.org/romero http://servicioskoinonia.org/LibrosDigitales The homilies that Mons. Romero preached on the In various languages, publicly available and print- biblical texts that are read to us today. able, as books, by digital printing. 11) Pedro Casaldáliga’s Page 21) Colección «Tiempo axial» http://servicioskoinonia.org/Casaldaliga http://latinoamericana.org/tiempoaxial His articles, poetry, circular letters, books, the Progressive, cutting-edge theology in Latin America. listing of his complete works. 22) Información sobre Koinonía 12) Cerezo Barredo’s Page http://servicioskoinonia.org/informacion ❑ 231 Recursos pedagógicos sobre Religión Martín Valmaseda Equipo Cauce, Guatemala, equipocauce.com

Antes, para buscar esos documentos y materiales reflexionar sobre las distintas actitudes frente a esos pedagógicos, era necesario acudir a videotecas y li- programas. Se encuentra en equipocauce.com brerías. Hoy con los lazos, enlaces y redes, podemos - Canciones bucear en webs, youtubes, emules, ares, y links, para La canción, o el disco-foro, ofrece siempre una encontrar películas, canciones, textos al alcance de base atractiva de diálogo. Algunos temas: la mano -de la tecla-, bajarlos y trabajarlos. Nos ayu- Las clásicas Preguntas sobre Dios, de Atahualpa darán en esto los buscadores más comunes, pregun- Yupanqui, reflejan de modo sangrante lo que busca tándoles por el tema o el material que necesitamos, o reflexiva la teología de la liberación. también por páginas de «enlaces cristianos», «webs Como respuesta a esas preguntas escuchamos cristianas», «recursos cristianos»... o de cualquier otra el poema de Casaldáliga, musicalizado por Ricardo religión. Dividimos nuestras sugerencias por bloques. Cantalapiedra: Donde tú dices ley, yo digo Dios... Mu- - Videos, audiovisuales, powerpoints chas de las letras que nos ofrecen los discos de este Entre los powerpoints que corren de computador cantautor («El profeta», «La casa de mi amigo», «No a computador, uno que desmonta nuestra imagen queremos a los grandes palabreros»...) han resistido el simplona del Dios viejito barbudo: Dios es mujer, que paso del tiempo y hoy pueden enfrentarse a la piado- podemos encontrar en radialistas.net sería musical de lo llamado carismático. Hoy día el video es «tecnología punta», inima- Los Guaraguau nos recuerdan que No basta rezar. ginable hace unas décadas, y ahora profusamente Domingo Pérez en Oración comprometida ha pues- difundida, y disponible hasta la saturación: basta ir a to música a poemas de Casaldáliga: Piensa también Youtube y escribir cualquier palabra-tema, o cualquier con los pies, Maldita sea la cruz, De vuelta voy... nos nombre de personaje, o pensador, o teólogo... Sólo ayudan a no poner nuestra creencia en memorias pondremos un ejemplo: busque Karen Armstrong, o estereotipadas: www.domingoperez.net John Shelby Spong, o también Richard Dawkins, por - Cine sólo hablar de los más célebres. Infinitos recursos a Para reflexionar sobre la fe en el cine debemos nuestra disposición; sólo hace falta «perder tiempo» rebuscar igual que las amas de casa revuelven las para encontrar lo que necesitamos, y compartirlo. «pacas de ropa»: rebuscar videos breves para trabajos - Series radiofónicas, audios, mp3 de grupo como Jesús de la pirámide al círculo (Cauce) • Mencionamos en primer lugar las grandes series o películas de todas las épocas con las más distintas radiofónicas latinoamericanas clásicas, de hace ya respuestas religiosas. Algunas: unos años, producidas por SERPAL, puestas a dispo- Nazarín, el sacerdote entregado, hundido en el sición pública en serpal.org Mención especial para el sentimiento de fracaso en su fe. En algún aspecto tema que nos ocupa merece «Un tal Jesús», disponi- es semejante a la obra de teatro El león dormido, de ble en untaljesus.net tanto en audio como en texto. Graham Green. También existe un CD interactivo que lo complementa. Otra meditación sobre fe agónica: Diario de un • Nueva es la serie Otro Dios es posible: cien entre- cura rural. No se citan estas obras por tratar de sacer- vistas a Jesús (que “vuelve” a la Tierra), en programas dotes sino por su profundización dolorosa en la fe. audio y texto escrito. Acompañan a cada entrevista El séptimo sello, de Bergman, una de las películas unos documentos para fundamentarla. Toda la serie clásicas que buscan el camino trascendental del ser está liberada en emisoraslatinas.net. También existe humano. También Los comulgantes. un libro con su CD. Por citar algunas películas de diferentes nacionali- Para aclarar a quienes se escandalicen fácilmente, dades, que tienen latente la búsqueda de Dios, citaré CAUCE ha editado un pequeño folleto que ayuda a la china: El camino a casa; el filme iraní:El color del 232 paraíso; el musical norteamericano, en ambiente de CAUCE procura acercar a la reflexión sobre la Trini- los judíos rusos: El violinista en el tejado. dad con el folleto: La santísima comunidad. Dentro de los cientos de películas no biográficas Hay que conocer los dibujos y reflexiones perso- sobre Jesús, cito solamente Jesús de Montreal. Las nales de José Luis Cortés. Destacan las series: El Señor que «cuentan la vida de Jesús» pedirían un tratamien- de los amigos, y Tus amigos no te olvidan, en los que to aparte, y muy crítico. dibuja un poco menos y escribe un poco más. Hay películas que aparentemente no son religiosas Es importante para la conciencia popular la publi- como El festín de Babette, pero nos ayudan a descu- cación de escritos breves que se empiezan en viajes brir a Dios escondido en la comunidad y la fiesta. de autobús y se terminan comentándolos en comuni- - Materiales, libros, folletos y artículos breves dad. Como los audiovisuales cortos, los “youtubes”... Muchas editoriales tienen series o colecciones Entre muchos artículos actuales que responden a «de frontera», con libros especialmente pensados para la crisis de la actual situación me limito a recomendar provocar el pensamiento. Un ejemplo es el patroci- uno de José Enrique Galarreta: ¿Qué está pasando en nado por esta misma Agenda Latinoamericana, la ya la Iglesia?, publicado en «Somos Iglesia» de Andalu- conocida colección «Tiempo axial», con autores como cía, por redescristianas.net Lenaers, Spong, Knitter, Hick... que hacen pensar, Afortunadamente no nos faltan teólogos y pensa- replantear y debatir temas profundos. dores que popularizan en artículos breves sus reflexio- Muchas novelas, algunas pasadas al cine nos plan- nes. Un ejemplo es «la columna semanal de Leonardo tean la presencia de Dios en la vida: Graham Green, Boff», que ya pasa de las 400 semanas sin interrup- Bruce Marshall, Martín Descalzo... ción... ni siquiera en vacaciones. Pueden encontrarse Mención especial merece la novela de Unamuno: en servicioskoinonía.org, ciudadredonda.org, redescris- San Manuel bueno mártir, sobre la fe experimentada tianas.net, atrio.org, ciberiglesia.net... en el vacío. Destacamos varias obras de Saramago: El Hace falta sembrar la inquietud en quienes tienen Evangelio según Jesucristo, Ensayo sobre la ceguera, muy segura una doctrina que al menor empuje se les Ensayo sobre la lucidez... Su ideología queda reflejada tambalea. Es mejor que se la tambaleemos nosotros, en la frase: «Dios es el silencio del universo, y el ser para que caiga lo que tiene que caer y se mantenga la humano, el grito que da sentido a ese silencio». fe. La fe vestida, casi disfrazada, aunque por debajo No podemos dejar de recomendar los libros de siga siendo fe. teología mismos: si antes eran un campo reservado Y es que muchos de estos materiales, reflejan la a los especialistas, hoy hemos de saber que hay una «parábola» que escuché a la cuenta-cuentos Ana G, gran cantidad de ellos en internet, a disposición. Castellanos, y que nos ayuda a abordar expresiones Refirámonos sólo aservidores masivos más conoci- alejadas del lenguaje religioso que hemos estado dos, repletos de libros, como scribd.com, 4shared.com, acostumbrados a manejar. Dice que: La verdad andaba mediafire.com, rapidshare.com, megaupload.com... desnuda por la vida y todos la insultaban y rechaza- Hay también ya una respetable cantidad de revis ban. La mentira pasó a su lado y se compadeció de tas de teología en línea; seguimos sosteniendo que ella. Si quieres, le dijo, yo puedo ayudarte a mejorar la RELaT (servicioskoininia.org/relat) es la más vete- tu presencia. La cubrió con un bello vestido, la ador- rana, pero hoy son cientos: pregúntese en un busca- nó con collares, pendientes... y la maquilló. dor por «revistas de teología en línea» y similares. Cuando la verdad se iba así adornada , gritó la Muy variada es la colección de folletos «Cristia- mentira: “¡oye muchacha, cuando te vean no les digas nisme i justicia», de los jesuitas de Cataluña, pública- que eres la verdad!” mente disponibles en fespinal.com Algunos títulos: El - ¡Pero yo no quiero ser mentira! joven, El gurú y el pájaro, Cuatro testimonios, Por qué - No, no. Solamente diles que eres... la fábula. volví a la fe, El dios de Bush, La difícil laicidad... (Algunos la llaman parábola, símbolo, mito, géne- Los folletos de la revista Alandar (alandar.org): Yo ro literario) no soy ateo (testimonio de Tierno Galván), Oye Dios, De todo eso tratan los materiales aquí citados. Uti ¿Por qué sufrimos?... alimentan nuestra reflexión. lícenlos para cubrir y descubrir la verdad de la fe. q 233 Información y materiales complementarios Para ampliar y trabajar pedagógicamente el tema de esta Agenda Nuestra Agenda es un instrumento, una herramienta para el trabajo de concienciación y de educación popular, de ahí su estilo de diagramación intensivo sobre el papel, bien aprovechado, sin espacios blancos ni elementos gráficos. Pero desde muy al comienzo de la era digital, adoptó la iniciativa de conjuntar «papel y telemática», ofreciendo en internet un amplio repertorio de materiales complementarios, a pública disposición, para quienes quieran servirse de su propuesta temá- tica anual. Estas dos páginas son sólo una selección de los materiales y recursos que en la «página complementaria de la Agenda»(latinoamericana.org/2011/info) se ofrece: una amplia bibliografía (libros), una seleccionada cibergrafía (páginas y enlaces de internet), y documentos históricos y artículos especialmente aptos para ser debatidos y trabajados en la educación popular.

1. Organice actividades 2. Cibergrafía Vea si su comunidad está viva y entusiasta, o si necesi- www.atrio.org: lugar de diálogo entre profano/sagrado taría una renovación. Vea si sería bueno proponerle www.ihu.unisinos.br: Instituto Humanitas Unisinos hacer un curso de renovación, de replanteamiento, www.redescristianas.net de estudio de los puntos aparentemente anticuados, curasopp.com.ar: Curas en la opción por los pobres o sobrepasados, o no comprensibles... www.ciudadredonda.org/ Haga primero la propuesta a la comunidad, y que ésta wwwespiritualidadprogresista.blogspot.com decida el tema o la materia a revisar y compartir josemariacastillo.blogspot.com Aparte de los materiales aportados en esta Agenda’2011, www.adistaonline.it sugerimos estos otros que pueden utilizarse como www.adital.com.br guión-manual de estudio en grupo o comunidad: www.feadulta.com www.cebcontinental.org - LENAERS, Roger, Otro cristianismo es posible. Fe en chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/?sp=y lenguaje de modernidad, Abya Yala, Quito 2008. www.petition-vaticanum2.org/pageID_7331924.html Sus capítulos pueden tomarse de: http://2006. www.ccp.org.es atrio.org/?page_id=1616 y muchísimas otras... - VIGIL, José María, Teología del pluralismo religioso, En Youtube hay numerosos vídeos sobre: Abya Yala, Quito 2005, 400 pp; o El Almendro, ARMSTRONG, Karen, como “TED Prize” (subtitulado en Córdoba, España, 2005. Puede tomarse de: http:// castellano); The history of God... cursotpr.adg-n.es/?page_id=3 CÂMARA, Helder: O santo rebelde... - SPONG, Jon Shelby, Un cristianismo nuevo para un CASADÁLIGA, P., Pregunta a dom Pedro Casaldáliga; O mundo nuevo, Abya Yala, Quito 2010, colección anel de tucum... «Tiempo axial». FREIRE, Paulo, Paulo Freire e a Teologia da libertação - HERRERO DEL POZO, Juan Luis, Religión sin magia, El COMBLIN, Conversación con Cristian Warken... Almendro, Córdoba (España) 2006. KÜNG, “Obra escrita”... SPONG, John Shelby: Infierno; Beyond Theism; Future En cada país hay materiales adecuados, cursos de Christianity; Must Christianity Change or Die?; God renovación, y también personas que pueden ase- in the 21st Century... sorar y animar actividades. Pida asesoramiento a LÖWY-NASCIMENTO: Oque é a teologia da libertação... los centros y entidades especializados. Monte su y como ésos, se puede buscar muchos otros. actividad en colaboración con otros; es mejor. -Otros vídeos y materiales: cfr esta Agenda, pp. 232. Todo esto y más en: latinoamericana.org/2011/info 234 3. bibliografía

ALVES, Rubem, O que é a religião, Ars Poética, 1981. ma, Barcelona 2006. AlVES, R., O enigma da religião,Papirus, Campinas 62007. MARINA, José Antonio, Dictamen sobre Dios, Anagrama, ALVES, R., Religión: ¿opio o instrumento de libera- Barcelona 2001. ción?, Nueva Tierra, Montevideo. MARZAL, Manuel, Tierra encantada. Antropología religiosa ARMSTRONG, K., La gran transformación, Paidós, Barce- de América Latina, Trotta, Madrid 2002. lona 2007. McGRATH, Alister & Joana, O delirio de Dawking, Mundo ARMSTRONG, K., Una historia de Dios, Paidós, Barcelona Cristão, São Paulo 2007. 1995. MORWOOD, Michael, Tomorrow’s Catholic, Twenty Third ARMSTRONG, Karen, Breve historia del Mito, Salamandra, Publications, New London 62006. Barcelona 2005. O’BRIEN J. - PALMER, M., Atlas Akal del estado de las BARBOUR, Ian, Religión y ciencia, Trotta, Madrid 2004. religiones, Akal, Madrid 2000. BATESON, G., El temor de los ángeles. Epistemología de O’MURCHU, Diarmuid, Religion in Exile. A Spiritual Home- lo sagrado, Gedisa, Barcelona 1989. coming, Crossroad, New York, 2000. BERGER, P., Rumor de Ángeles, Herder, Barcelona 1975. ONFRAY, Michel, Tratado de ateología, Anagrama, Barce- CORBÍ, M., Religión sin religión, PPC, Madrid 1996. lona 2006. CRAWFORD, Robert, O que é religião, Vozes, Petrópolis PADEN, William E., Interpretando o sagrado. Modos de 2005. concebir a religião, Paulinas, São Paulo 2001. CUPITT, Don, After God. The Future of Religion, HarperCo- POUPARD, P. (org.), Diccionario de las religiones, Barcelo- lling Publishers, NY 2000, 143pp na, Herder 1987. DAWKINS, Richard, The god Delusion, Bantan Press 2006. ROBLES, Amando, Repensar la religión, EUNA, San José DENNETT, Daniel, C., Romper el hechizo. La religión como de Costa Rica 2001. fenómeno natural, Katz, Buenos Aires 2007. RORTY, Richard - VATTIMO, Gianni, El futuro de la religión. DÍEZ DE VELASCO, F. - GARCÍA BAZÁN, F. (orgs.), El estu- Santiago ZABALA (org.). Paidós, Barcelona 2006 dio de la religión, Trotta, Madrid 2002. RUBIA, F., La conexión divina, Crítica, Barcelona 22004. DÍEZ DE VELASCO, F., Bibliografía general de Historia de SAMUEL, Albert, Les religiones aujourd’hui, Atelier- las religiones, disponible en nuestra “página info”. Ouvrières 1996. DOMÍNGUEZ MORANO, Carlos, Creer después de Freud, SMITH, Wilfred Cantwell, El sentido y el fin de la religión, Paulinas, Madrid 1991. Kairós, Barcelona 2005. Prólogo de John Hick. DUMORTIER, B., Atlas de las religiones. Creencias, prácti- SPONG, J.S., Jesus for the Non-Religious, HarperCollins, cas, territorios, Icaria, Barcelona 2003. Nueva York 2007. FERNÁNDEZ DEL RIESGO, Manuel, La ambigüedad social SPONG, J.S., Un nuevo cristianismo para un mundo nue- de la religión, Verbo Divino, Estella 1997. vo, Abya Yala, Quito 2010, colección «Tiempo axial». GRIFFITH-DICKSON, Gwen, ¿Es la religión una invención SPONG, J.S., Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, occidental?, Concilium 302 (sept 2003) HarperSanFrancisco, New York 1991. HARRIS, Sam, Letter to a Christian Nation, Vintage Books TEIXEIRA, Faustino - MENEZES, Renata, As religiões no 2008. Brasil, Vozes, Petrópolis 2006. JONCHERAY, Jean, ¿Pertenencia parcial a la Iglesia?, «Se- TORRES QUEIRUGA, Andrés, Creer de otra manera, Sal lecciones de Teología», 43/170(abril 2004)117-128 Terrae 1999. servicioskoinonia.org/biblioteca LIBÂNIO, J.B., A Religião no início do milênio, Loyola, TORRES QUEIRUGA, Andrés, Fin del cristianismo conven- São Paulo 2002, 283 pp. cional, Sal Terrae, Santander. LOMBARDI, Luigi, Negra Luz, Tirant lo blanch, Valencia Van der LEEUW, G., Fenomenología de la religión, FCE, (España) 2006, 355 pp México 1964. LOPES SANCHEZ, Wagner, Cristianismo na América Lati- ZOHAR, Danah – MARSHALL, Ian, Spiritual Intelligence, na e no Caribe, Paulinas, São Paulo 2003, 383 pp Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 1999. MARINA, José Antonio, ¿Por qué soy cristiano?, Anagra- Larger bibliography at: latinoamericana.org/2011/info q 235 Los titanes del tiempo

Winner of the Aroldo Moisés Pescado Tomás «Latin American Short Story» Sumpango, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala Se acercaba el tiempo de las luciérnagas en el aire, esas pequeñas luces que con las primeras lluvias dan la En la alforja fósforos, ocote, pixtones, sal, chile, idea de ser chispas de fuego al extinguirse el incendio agua. La oscuridad palidecía como hombre que se asusta que quemaba la tierra en el verano. y que dormido enflaquece y despierto muere. La aurora La noche que no era noche delineaba figuras chi- aparecía tímida y ligera detrás de cerros con dioses se- nescas por el camino de tierra, de piedra, de polvo, de culares. El canto del cenzontle lloraba agua, y el hombre lodo. En el lento vaivén del alarido de un viento que- con su mula llegaba al monte, para trabajar la tierra sa- jumbroso flotaba la frescura de un cielo estrellado, sin grada y benévola, que generosa da a su tiempo la espi- nubes, sin sombras. Cuando pasaba por el camino de ga, que es la madre del pan, y el maíz, padre del hombre pedregales el sonido se hizo grande, que cubría todo, americano. El sol pintaba el horizonte con sus rayos de que lo envolvía todo y el firmamento se movía como si luz. Mula y hombre eran como sombras en ese paisaje de viajara en barco. De pronto se sintió caer en un profun- oro. Los brazos y piernas, reumáticos de tanto labrar la do abismo, sintió volar hacia atrás, de espaldas por un tierra comenzaron su larga faena. Olía a tierra seca. segundo sin fin. El ladrido de un perro negro que dormía en el ca- Doña Candelaria, mujer vieja y paciente como su mino lo vino a despertar; era como alma de diablo que esposo, llevó a vender miltomates verdes, gallinas ama- mostraba sus dientes blancos mientras pasaban Lila, rillas y conejos blancos a la plaza de la ciudad. una vieja mula acanelada, y él, montado sobre ella casi -¡Hoy no hay venta!, ¡aquí nadie vende más! –gri- dormido en el sueño del amanecer eterno. taron unos gendarmes. Y hubo que correr para salvar ¡Guau!, ¡guau!, ¡guau!, ¡guau!, guauuuu... ladraba la vida, y dejar la venta para no ir al calabozo, y llorar el perro en tanto corría y regresaba como queriendo para destruir el badajo de plomo en la garganta. Los jugar a espaldas de la bestia. Lila seguía con su andar miserables no tienen derecho a ganarse la vida honra- tranquilo, como si también durmiera de tanto caminar. damente porque causan desorden y afean las horribles Don Encarnación se tocó la cintura para revisar si seguía ciudades. Y causan enojos a los grandes estadistas idio- ahí el machete que colocó con mucho cuidado al salir tas, burgueses que creen ver todo y no ven nada. de su casa. Y tuvo que sostenerse también el sombrero ancho para no caerse, porque la mula despertó asustada, Los primeros aguaceros agujerearon las viejas lámi- ya que se sintió caer de espaldas frente a la fuerza del nas de cinc. Don Encarnación regresó a casa y se quitó ladrido de un lebrel pinto que se oponía a su camino. las botas de hule, ahora llenas de agua limpia y llovida. -¡Shhitt!, ¡chucho! –dijo, para apartar al animal del Entró a la cocina y vio a su esposa con las pupilas lle- pasaje-. Silencio. Atrás quedó la granja de los frailes y nas de granizos calientes, tan calientes como lágrimas. sus fieros guardianes caninos. Doña Candelaria narró con la voz quebrada cómo perdió todo y quedó ella sola, sin dinero, sin gallinas, ni cone- -¡Mercado central!, ¡mercado central!, ¡vamos ma- jos, ni nada. Los toscos brazos envolvieron a su esposa, dre!, ¡llega, llega! Con las primeras luces sonaban las los dos viejos lloraban. Menos mal que a ella no le había bocinas como reses para el matadero, docenas de ca- pasado nada. El agua sonaba como piedras en la lámina, nastos y sacos con plumas, frutos, verduras y hortalizas roja de tan oxidada; pero eran piedras tan duras como eran cargados al camión donde viajaría Ña Candelaria. diamantes, gotas de esperanza. Un colibrí hecho con Bajo la luz de las estrellas y luceros pálidos florecía un cabellos de luna volaba entre las gotas de lluvia y de verdadero mercado terrestre, casi acuoso por el vapor sus alas se desprendían fracciones de tiempo color del de las tazas de café que servían unas mujeres prietas a arco iris en el crisol de la tierra seca y sedienta. Los los camioneros rechonchos y malhumorados. Cestos con trabajadores con su trabajo honrado y noble son los gallinas, patos, pavos; limón, toronja, chile, tomate, verdaderos héroes de la historia, de la patria, de esta cebolla; calabazas, porotos y maíz. tierra milagrosa y legendaria. q 236 El recuerdo o la esperanza

Winner of the Susana Benavides Alpízar «Latin American Short Story» San Vicente, Costa Rica Despertó asustada buscando, más que con sus nando cultivos, trabajo digno y monte por un poco de manos, con su alma, el cuerpo de Fernandito, le había suerte. costado dormirlo por la tos. Ricardo le insistió a su padre que se quedaran. Se La puerta se había abierto con el viento. Cómo le enojaron. Su madre tuvo que intervenir para que aque- pegaba la soledad cuando se despertaba en la madru- llo no terminara en golpes, pero nada pudo hacer para gada creyendo que había vuelto... que el cerrado de su esposo cayera en cuenta. La pareja No pudo volver a conciliar el sueño. Prendió una de viejos se fue con un montón de familias que se vela a la virgen de los ángeles y se sentó en la hamaca creían pobres a convertirse en pobres de verdad. a meditar con profunda tristeza: la vida, más bien las El problema en el pueblo surgió meses después, circunstancias, le habían arrebatado la paz. Es que ape- cuando el monocultivo de los gordinflones empezó a nas habían pasado diez meses y no sabía si resignarse afectar a los que se quedaron. Los comerciantes prefi- al recuerdo o mantener la esperanza. rieron los precios bajos de éstos, dejando al resto co- Conoció a Ricardo siendo apenas una chiquilla, pero miéndose sus papas o trabajando para los misters por desde la primera vez que lo miró a los ojos se sintió salarios de limosna. mujer. Fue en una fiesta patronal donde los presenta- Ricardo empezó un alboroto. Tomó primero la opi- ron. Él era de aspecto maduro para su edad, moreno, nión del sacerdote, quien le aseguró que organizarse de cejas pronunciadas y sus brazos dejaban notar el sin para defender a su gente no era ningún pecado. Se fin de laderas que había volcado con la pala. Dulce lo reunió con los vecinos dispuestos a reclamar. Poco duró flechó con su sonrisa y con sus ojos que no necesita- la iniciativa. Rapidito llegaron amenazas anónimas ban de palabras. de acabar con quienes buscaran derechos. La mayoría Maduraron las caricias y la moral se desbarató un dejó de asistir a los encuentros que se convirtieron en día dejando a Dulce embarazada. Unos meses atrás la furtivos. noticia hubiera sido una bomba pero, para asombro de La mañana de la desaparición Dulce le besó la ambos, nadie le prestó mayor importancia. frente y mientras lo persignaba le dijo con ternura: Por esos días habían llegado unos extranjeros gor- «Ricardo, hoy cumple un año Fernandito, llegue tem- dinflones a negociar con la gente del pueblo. Ofrecían prano pa’ que comamos juntos». Qué iba a saber él que cambiar fincas por casas y empleos en la ciudad, em- no volvería... Le asintió mientras le apretaba la sonrisa pleos de mierda, pero muchos se la creyeron, abando- con un beso. q

THE AGENDA PLACES ALSO THESE RESOURCES AT YOUR DISPOSITION!

- La página de información y materiales complementarios de la Agenda: latinoamericana.org/2011/info Todo lo que no cabe en este libro de papel pero que la Agenda también le ofrece para su trabajo de educación popular. - El archivo telemático de la Agenda: servicioskoinonia.org/agenda/archivo Todos los textos de los 20 años de la Agenda, organizados por temas, autor, título... a disposición pública permanente. - La colección digital de las Agendas aparecidas desde 1992: latinoamericana.org/Desde1992 Puede coleccionar todas las Agendas aparecidas en estos años, en formato digital, para su biblioteca digital personal. - La «Cartilla popular» de la Agenda: latinoamericana.org Brevísima, con unas guías para convetirla en texto-base para un cursillo, taller popular, formación comunitaria o actividad escolar. - Eventualmente, un «Curso de teología popular»: servicioskoinonia.org/teologiapopular Lo que la Agenda no puede desarrollar por falta de espacio en el papel, desarrollado y razonado amplia y pedagógicamen- te. Para estudio individual o como programa comunitario de formación, un círculo de estudio, o una actividad universitaria. - La colección «Tiempo Axial»: tiempoaxial.org y los «Servicios Koinonía»: servicioskoinonia.org

237 Jesús los envía en Misión Relectura del envio de Jesús a los doce y a los 72 Winner of the Gerardo Guillén de la Rosa «Neobíblical Pages» Contest México DF, México

La Asamblea estaba llegando a su fin. Estaban por mos de llevar nada para el camino, sólo lo indispensa- tomar la resolución final. Se acordó que peregrinarían ble y sólo aquella ropa que llevemos puesta. una mujer y un hombre de cada uno de los pueblos Volvió a tomar su lugar. originarios. Irían representando a todos y cada uno Se escuchó un murmullo que parecía un avispero. de los que conforman estos pueblos; una pareja de Poco a poco fue disminuyendo su intensidad hasta zapotecos, chontales y hwaves, como de matlatzincas, quedar otra vez en silencio. Uno de los principales popolucas y tepehuanes; dos mixtecos, ixcatecos y levantó la mano para tomar la palabra. chocholtecos; así de chinantecos, náhuatles y maza- —Aquellos que sean elegidos, cuando lleguen a tecos, un par de mixes, altacuates y triques, también un pueblo, localidad o ranchería, deben de buscar a de zoques, chatinos y amuzgos. Irían una mujer y un los que ya estén organizados, en el templo, el barrio o hombre: tlapanecos, mayas y purépechas. Se escoge- como campesinos. Primero salúdenlos. Que ellos de- rían dos tzotziles, tzeltales, choles y tojolabal. Parejas signen dónde podrán dormir y cómo se organicen para de ñañús, mazahuas y totonacos, de wirrárica, coras y darles sus frijoles y sus tortillas. Agradezcan lo que se mexicanero. Pares de tepehuanes, rarámuris y téneks, les dé. Quédense únicamente el tiempo necesario para como de puricuris, guaicuris y cochimí ooh’tames; dos ayudar a la organización en lo que les pidan. yaquis, mayos, kikapúes y cuicatecos. Tomó su lugar. Después de dialogarlo, se resolvió que caminarían Se comentó lo que se había dicho. a todos los pueblos y lugares acordados y trazados en Una mujer, ya mayor, que había permanecido toda una ruta. Un niño que había estado presente desde la asamblea en un silencio participante, como si úni- el principio, muy calladito, escuchando el camino a camente estuviera escuchando, se puso de pie, con seguir, tomo su crayón y fue uniendo cada uno de cierta dificultad, pero ya levantada se veía firme y los lugares con una línea. Cuando vieron el mapa con bien plantada en el suelo. Suspiró y les dijo: la raya trazada se dieron cuenta que tenía forma de —Cuando lleguen a algún lugar y no los quie- caracol. Asintieron con la cabeza, ésta es la ruta. ran recibir, no los ofendan, no los critiquen, no los Uno de los ancianos se levantó y dijo: cuestionen. Pero antes de seguir la peregrinación —Sabemos que es mucho el trabajo y lo que tene- díganles, y que les quede claro, que aun sin su parti- mos que hacer para tener una buena milpa y cosechar cipación este reino de una mejor humanidad se está unas buenas mazorcas, no es cosa fácil, y nosotros construyendo y les sería mejor si participaran. somos unos cuantos, por eso debemos pedir, rogar y La Asamblea les dio poder y autoridad para ha- quemar candela a la Madre Tierra y al Padre Cielo para blar en nombre de ellos, para que ayudaran a quitar que cada día haya más gente que quiera cultivar y los demonios que terminan con las organizaciones cosechar para este mundo. populares: envidias, avaricias, miedos y para curar Se sentó. los males de este mundo. La falta de solidaridad con Después de un silencio, una mujer, ya algo mayor, los demás, en especial con los que menos tienen. La se puso de pie, se acomodó el rebozo bordado como apatía y desorganización en la participación social. El los hacen en su pueblo, tomó la palabra y, despacito, no luchar por un mundo más justo y humano. dijo: Luego los envió a proclamar la construcción entre —Vamos a ir como becerros al matadero. No debe- todos del reinado de Dios. q 238 El árbol, símbolo de vida y comunión

Winner of the Orlando Valdés Camacho «Neobíblical Pages» Contest Pinar del Río, Cuba

El árbol que viste, que crecía y se hacía fuerte, cuya copa llegaba hasta el cielo, que se veía desde todos los confines de la tierra, cuyo follaje era hermoso y su fruto abundan- te, en el que había alimento para todos, debajo del cual vivían las bestias del campo y en cuyas ramas anidaban las aves del cielo, tú mismo eres... (Daniel 4,20-22). Para Arturo Aragón, joven cristiano, todos los días contesta que es mucho más fácil y barato utilizar los tienen un misterioso encanto, todos los días resultan espacios laterales de la alameda, que comenzar una un regalo que Dios le da y que él lo siente cuando, al obra tan costosa por las afueras de la ciudad. salir de casa, sus ojos contemplan el frondoso laurel Arturo no dice más, sabe que el individuo es otro que se levanta imponente a pocos metros del portal. de los tantos indolentes que apoyan las tontas ideas Allí, en medio del gorjeo de los gorriones y el bullicio de quienes planifican el progreso a golpe de extin- de los autos en su ir y venir matutino, con la luz del ción. Regresa con la cabeza gacha y se sienta en el sol colándose desde el horizonte por entre las ramas, portal, no puede concebir que alguien pueda estar de se regala unos minutos de oración mientras observa la acuerdo con destruir un sitio que es el símbolo de la magnificencia de aquel árbol que, como otros tantos localidad, no sólo porque ayuda a purificar el aire en- que se extienden a ambos lados de la calle, cada ma- rarecido, sino porque los árboles representan la vida, ñana le da la bienvenida. el establecimiento de las raíces del ser humano sobre Sin embargo hoy, para sorpresa de Arturo Aragón, la tierra, el acercamiento al cielo y la comunicación el laurel no está ahí para saludarlo, no está con el con Dios. acostumbrado retozo de los pájaros y el rocío de la En ese momento Arturo comprende que la defo- noche que termina. El hombre siente que algo se restación que ocurre de manera desenfrenada en la rompe en su interior, el encanto de una vida pasada cuenca del Amazonas y en la mayoría de los países de toca a su fin. Pero su pesar es mayor cuando recorre América Latina para sustentar las economías de las con la vista la calle de izquierda a derecha y ve cómo naciones poderosas, también, de manera peculiar y la hermosa alameda, que durante años cobijó con su poco ortodoxa, está teniendo lugar en su país, en su sombra los bancos coloniales que pululaban en las provincia, en su ciudad. aceras, está desapareciendo al caer sus árboles uno a No importa que esa deforestación no sea masiva, uno, cortados con modernos equipos. Incluso la enor- pues cada árbol que se arranca significa que alguien me ceiba al final de la calle ya recibe la primera poda. morirá por contaminación del aire o falta de alimento. Arturo se acerca rápido al grupo de obreros y des- Las personas ateas y sin una visión racional del mun- pués de preguntar quién es el responsable se dirige do, se han olvidado que el Señor del universo creó los hacia donde está un señor grueso, con gafas en la árboles al tercer día del comienzo, mucho antes de punta de la nariz que contempla con detenimiento que gracias a su misericordia y magnanimidad el hom- varios planos sobre una mesa portátil de aluminio. Ar- bre poblara la tierra. ¿Entonces, por qué destruirla? turo conoce el motivo de aquel desastre. El gobierno ¿Por qué levantar un monstruo de cemento y asfalto ha autorizado la tala de la antigua alameda para cons- donde la gente de bien puede mantener una estrecha truir una calle más amplia que permita el paso de una relación con la naturaleza, una hermosa complicidad mayor cantidad de autos ligeros y camiones de carga. de amor con el espíritu mismo de la creación? ¿Acaso Entonces pregunta si el gobierno estudió la posibili- el árbol no representa también la familia, la capacidad dad de realizar una circunvalación que sea capaz de del hombre de amar, de mantener sus vínculos con el cumplir con aquel objetivo sin necesidad de destrozar pasado y su respeto por el futuro? los laureles, pero el grueso individuo, sin mirarlo, (pasa a la página 241...) 239 La lógica de la irracionalidad

Winner of the Vilma Amanda AGUINAGA “Gender Perspectives” Contest Managua, Nicaragua

Tanto el patriarcado como el actual sistema eco- Configurando un mundo dicotómico organizado en- nómico configuran un entramado de relaciones impo- tre lo privado y lo público, entre el trabajo productivo sible de concebir el uno sin el otro, siendo la natura- y reproductivo, entre la lógica del cuidado atribuida al lización, invisibilización y la mentira algunas de las mundo de lo privado y la lógica de la producción ads- herramientas que perpetúan su hegemonía. crita al mundo de los negocios. Estos constructos sociales tienen rostro masculi- Este mundo en blanco y negro consolidó roles de no, no en su esencia biológica, sino más bien social, género monolíticos, siendo el hombre el director del ambos se basan en la opresión, desigualdad, injusticia espacio público y proveedor por excelencia, «el cabeza social, explotación, exclusión y en la imposición de de hogar», midiéndose su valía por su aporte econó- una lógica concreta justificada por determinaciones mico o en otras palabras por el dinero generado. divinas, biológicas, culturales, etc. Y consolidándose el imaginario de la «mujer para Desde ambos sistemas se articula una lógica que lo demás» realizada en la medida de la realización sólo puede ser comprendida y aceptada desde la del otro/a, recordemos la expresión universal: «detrás desigualdad e irracionalidad de la «racionalidad» del de un gran hombre hay una gran mujer». Es decir, la homo economicus entendido como aquel que maximiza mujer como soporte de funcionamiento del primer su utilidad, tratando de obtener los mayores benefi- engranaje. cios posibles con el menor esfuerzo. Esta mujer entregada por entero a los demás Si no, cómo comprender y «aceptar» que en 2009 desarrolló una perspectiva del cuidado en línea uni- a nivel mundial se destinaran 20 mil billones de dó- direccional (cuidador-cuidado), posesionándose de la lares para salvar el sistema financiero y que a finales esfera del amor y de la satisfacción de las necesidades de ese año bancos como Santander o BBVB registraran de los demás, pero no por determinismo biológico o ganancias superiores a los 15 mil millones de dólares. providencial, sino por estructuralismo social, siendo Si no, cómo comprender y «aceptar» que se sigan «buena mujer» según el desempeño efectivo de su rol aludiendo razones de falta de recursos para enfrentar de madre, de esposa, de hija, en fin de mujer sumisa problemas gravísimos como el hambre, la pobreza, la y entregada. desnutrición, la devastación del medio ambiente y de Con esta división del trabajo el hombre asumió sus especies. la perspectiva de la generación y la mujer la pers- Si no, cómo comprender y «aceptar» el fracaso de pectiva del cuidado, siendo esta última perspectiva la última cumbre del clima donde las enormes expec- infravalorada y considerada como algo natural. Esta tativas se diluyeron frente a la lógica del crecimiento división marcó profundamente nuestra manera de ver de los países conocidos como desarrollados, quienes y organizar el mundo, coexistiendo ambas en con- impusieron su razón con el argumento de su fuerza y textos articulados entre sí, pero a su vez separados poder. inexorablemente. Si no, cómo comprender y «aceptar» que se siga Esta separación entre cuidado y generación de usando un enfoque keynesiano borrando de las cuen- riqueza excluyó del mundo de la producción la lógica tas nacionales el aporte inmenso de las mujeres en el del cuidado, sino pensemos por qué en todos los nive- desarrollo económico de los países. les pensamos más en las ganancias que en los costes, Y es que es desde esta racionalidad, basada en la pero no de producción, sino humanos, ambientales exclusión y la explotación, desde donde organizamos e incluso personales, siendo consideración, respeto, el mundo en sus dimensiones públicas y privadas cuidado, empatía... signos de debilidad y fracaso. (organización de la intimidad y organización de la Esta lógica ha permeado a todas las personas de ciudadanía). tal manera que una mujer que pretenda ser económi- 240 camente exitosa deberá ser igual de fría y calculadora cuando se trate de generar riqueza, si no, recordemos la supuesta racionalidad del homo economicus. Este pensamiento y praxis ha creado un monstruo que vive en nosotros/as, siendo cada hombre y mujer (viene de la página 239) desde diferentes posiciones sociales su origen y producto o como diría José Martí -refiriéndose a EEUU-: Arturo suspira, sabe que no se trataba de negar el «No conozco al monstruo porque viví en sus entrañas, desarrollo, de no mejorar las posibilidades que pueda sino que el conocimiento del monstruo está en el tener la comunidad de viabilizar su desenvolvimiento conocimiento de su producto, que soy yo». cotidiano, pero sí de hacerlo en común armonía con Ese monstruo no está afuera, sino dentro alimen- la naturaleza, buscando un equilibrio entre arquitec- tándose de la indiferencia, el consumismo y el prag- tura, flora y fauna. Porque durante decenas de años matismo resignado. Y ocultándose en la normalidad y esos árboles han sido la fuente de vida y el refugio naturalización de comportamientos que son productos para una multitud de seres vivos. Su ciclo de existen- sociales y no determinaciones divinas o genéticas. cia representa la renovación constante del oxígeno, Este monstruo es por acción y omisión el mejor el alimento que beneficia directa o indirectamente al aliado de la dinámica económica hegemónica estruc- ser humano, y también, por qué no, la cuna donde turada alrededor del poder, la exclusión y la devas- nacen los sueños de aquellos que creen en el mejora- tación del medio ambiente. Y es desde su lógica que miento del mañana. aceptamos lo inaceptable, que nos inmutamos frente Fue su padre el primero en inculcarle el amor por a la barbarie y que nos atemperamos frente a la tor- la naturaleza, el que primero le enseñó el significado menta. de las plantas a través de maravillosas lecturas bíbli- El analizar el mundo desde una perspectiva teles cas, quien le dijo que el hijo de Dios, por medio de cópica ciertamente nos da pistas para enfrentar los parábolas y sabios preceptos, demostró a nuestros problemas creados desde la lógica del patriarcado ancestros el poder manifiesto de la creación de los y el sistema económico, pero al hacerlo desde una árboles. Quizás por eso desde muy temprano Arturo perspectiva microscópica -desde nuestra realidad más se propuso ser ingeniero forestal. ¿Cómo resignarse inmediata- reconoceremos herramientas más cercanas, entonces a que el hermoso paseo donde crecieron accesibles y prácticas, herramientas que nos ayuden sus antepasados, los bancos donde los enamorados a combatir ese monstruo que vive en cada persona compartieron orgullosos sus primeros besos y donde y que es aliado de la lógica irracional que marca las la ternura de las hojas empujadas por el viento di- pautas de nuestra vida. bujaron formas increíbles, sea ahora un paraje des- Por ello hay que voltear también nuestra mirada cubierto, un espacio maltratado por el sol, el ruido y a las relaciones cotidianas, a lo aparentemente in- el humo de los autos? ¿Cómo asimilar que el hombre, significante que es donde se encuentra la savia que encargado de generar proyectos que perpetúen la alimenta el sistema de opresión hegemónico, pues por obra de Dios, el responsable de mantener vivas las decreto podríamos prescribir un mundo más justo y esperanzas de una recuperación ambiental para las ecológicamente sostenible, pero en lo cotidiano con- nuevas generaciones, es quien está destrozando el tinuar siendo una sociedad de esclavos. entorno y autodestruyéndose? Este análisis microscópico nos plantea también el Con lentitud pasmosa, como si las piernas le reto de recuperar y de revalorar de la esfera privada la pesaran una eternidad, Arturo entra y cierra la puer- perspectiva del cuidado para hacerla extensiva a las ta. Luego se arrodilla junto a la cama y comienza relaciones políticas, económicas y sociales, para ser una oración por el mundo, por su país, por su ciudad. cuidadores y cuidados, para ser de verdad indepen- Finalmente, con los ojos apretados para impedir que dientes al reconocerlos dependientes, para ser orgu- la lágrima salga, pide perdón por él mismo, porque llosos, pero humildes y atentos en nuestras relaciones en el fondo, por un inexplicable miedo que lo lleva a con las demás personas y con la naturaleza. q no hacer nada, él también se siente culpable. q 241 Point of encounter

Thanks for what is growing in us, and what helps inonia Biblical Services! We are so grateful for this us to give form to what we have already experienced help. in our reality and the relation God-human-planet-de- Felix Jimenez, Managua, Nicaragua. votion. We do not find this in many of our parishes and not many of our pastors want us to think and to We are a group or religious and lay women from speak in this way. diverse areas of Uruguay, who are living and working Thanks for confirming in me what I already thoug- in very poor sectors (CRIMPO). In July 2009 some of ht and that I could not find someone with whom to us gathered in Montevideo to reflect upon the subject share it. All your work redounds to the action of the of the Agenda: “toward a new socialism. The Utopia Holy Spirit in the growing of the kingdom. continues” Previously we sent to the group a large Once again, THANKS, because Faith finds an ade- selection of the Agenda content, to be studied. quate expression in its times. Regards. In the gathering we used the method “to see, Inilce M. Albani, [email protected] to judge and to act”. In each step we chose some articles, shared the readings, and analyzed it when I am so grateful for your fast response to my relating its content to our lived experiences, opinions request. That is for sure one of the many virtues of expectations...in our context. those working in Koinonia. I am a very enthusiastic At the end of the work we promised ourselves to reader of everything published by you, because I feel continue the reflection at the personal and communal part of the group that is very disappointed in a chur- level and at the same time we decided that the theme ch that turns its back on Vatican II. I recommend all of our retreat 2010 be “Utopia as spiritual road”(Title your articles to as many people as I can. My children of the article by Marcelos Barros). in their reflection group also take into account your Thanks for the Agenda, for this collective work of writing. art that encourages us to continue walking. I am looking for the Lord in new ways, for so Information received from OBSUR, Montevideo. many years already and as a flower of those theologians from Uruguay Juan Luis Segundo, I have en- We read the book “Other Christianity is possible”, countered a surprise in the great freedom of “Spong” from the collection Tiempo Axial, and we made flash in his biblical analysis. This author is a valuable sti- cards in order to reflect with the youth group. Many mulus in my biblical investigation, and in conjunction interesting things have come out related to how we with enormous contributions of those who are wor- can continue working on our identity as believers, but king in Koinonia, is my partner on the road in these with a more open vision as lay people. new times that we have to evangelize. “A big hug”. Pablo del Hierro, Proaño Formation Center, Quito. Keep going! Luis Coutinho, Montevideo, Uruguay. We worked in the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Pena, from Yariguanrenda-Tartagal, Salta, Argentina. Dear Friend (companion): The Franciscan Friars continually are making allusions I am a former priest and I work with a small Base to the environmental and ecological themes. Mo- Christian community (CEB) in an impoverished area of reover, in the sanctuary there is a religious formation Managua. Every Saturday afternoon, when it does not house functioning (at this point there are 13 young rain, we gather under a tree. There are twenty people. people in formation and in preparation to be forma- The majority are women who form our small CEB “The tion directors or accompany others. Good News”. If you could only see how wonderful is In Tartagal there is a school which has an “ecolo- the environment, to reflect on the biblical readings gical patrol”, composed of children and parents. We for Sunday with the help of the commentaries of Ko- studied the content on regular basis for our work on 242 raising consciousness levels. Moreover, we are having Dear Friends of KOINONIA: an impact through the mass media. A group of women want to share with you their We will need to download the whole course and rich experience at being accompanied with the ex- also to get the Agenda for next year. THANKS. cellent material from your site thorough the course In the year 2002, I received as a gift the Biblical “Theology and Religious Pluralism”. Diary, and since then I connected with Koinonia. I As we commit with God’s cause, with God‘s pro- loved it, and continually I am downloading the texts. ject, we continue discovering that this is making a Boff and Casaldaliga are two people I admired very commitment with Jesus’ cause, the Kingdom cause. much. I cannot stop sharing their thoughts and wri- The great utopia and God’s dream is: that love beco- tings. Thanks. mes a reality, justice, freedom, life for all, in commu- hsclara@arnet,com.ar nion with the universe. This is also our dream, our utopia. We are organizing a few things for the Xa Juve- Today, we are finding ourselves in a crucial time nile Pastoral Assembly of the South of Quito. It is (axial!), a time of great changes and transformatio- an opportunity for evaluation and decision making ns. This calls us to live in a more conscientious and for planning of the year 2010. We are proposing the responsible manner. We are part of this process of themes for the Agenda for the whole year. We are change. preparing an action campaign, in relation to the “new The path we have been working on for two years ecological consciousness”, with our militant team. We through the course “Theology and Religious Plura- are also revising the flash cards to be taught in the lism”, has helped to open our minds and hearts. It schools in which we have contact. The young men and has helped us to revise our beliefs, our theology that women are very enthusiastic about the theme. for years has accompanied us. It has taught us to Pablo del Hierro, Proaño Formacion Center, Quito. construct and to deconstruct; it has freed us from nonsense and inflexibility. It has helped us to initiate For me, like for many other readers in Latin Ameri- a path of freedom. can, Koinonia is already part of our lives and supports We have discovered that the RUAH is present and us in our struggles. It is a very necessary and perti- acting in every religion and culture of every people, in nent tool for evangelization/liberation of our exclu- all historical times, and that it continues to accom- ded and poor people. I discovered this site and I have pany humanity in history, known and unknown, and followed it since the Popular Theology of Religious also to the cosmos, conducting it to its fulfillment Pluralism began. and transformation. I considered many of you, those who make this We have discovered the difference between “spi- service possible, my teachers and a testimony of rituality” and “religion”, between “theology of reli- diakonia. This is the reason, I shared this text with so gions” and “Theology of Religious Pluralism”, without much delight.... absolutism of what we continue to discover as “me- Congratulation for all these years of services. diations”. The course has helped us to revise our ima- A fraternal and sororal hug to all, ge of God, the concepts of revelation, selection, etc. Valentin Mendoza Morales, Mexicano en Bogota. It has been a very freeing experience. It has been an invitation to intra-dialogue and the inter-dialogue, Hi friends: to openness to the other person, centered in the love I am sharing with you a brief reflection. Congra- of others, especially those who are the poorest and tulations for the Latin-American Agenda’ 2010.Beau- most excluded. tiful! The themes... very rich and important for all of From this experience a song of praise to our God us. I am developing these themes here in Brazil with of life, to the RUAH which has become intimate, a groups of children (boys and girls) from 6 to 17 years companion and friend. of age, who are socially vulnerable. I am very grateful! Clara Romero [email protected] redmujerespachacuti.blogspot.com/search?q=koinonia 243 Who’s Who Among the authors of this agenda Only some; others need no introduction for our readers...

Leonardo BOFF is one of the founders of libera- history of Christianity in many theological institutes tion theology. A Catholic theologian, he now focuses in the Northeast of Brazil. He is a founding member his work especially on the theme of ecology. Many of of CEHILA (Commission on the Study of the History of his books are available in English, including Ecology the Church in Latin America). He is the author of in- & Liberation, a New Paradigm and Cry of the Earth, numerable books, including: Formação do catolicismo Cry of the Poor. His weekly column is available in brasileiro,1550-1800 (1974); La memoria del pueblo Spanish at servicioskoinia.org/boff cristiano (1986); Essa terra tinha dono (1990); His- Ernesto CARDENAL (born January 20, 1925) is a tória da Igreja na América Latina e no Caribe (1995); Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most Brasil indígena: 500 anos de resistência (2000); Ori- famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan San- gens do cristianismo (2006). dinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 Roger LENAERS. 1925, Ostende, Bélgica. Jesuit. he served as Nicaragua’s first culture minister. He is In 2000 and 2002 he published two rather exten- also famous as a poet. Cardenal was also the founder ded essays about the clash between modernity and of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname modern religious convictions. By reinterpreting the Islands, where he lived (1965-1977). essence he tried to reconcile the theological message Pedro CASALDÁLIGA is the Bishop Emeritus of with modernity. The two booklets got a remarkably the Diocese of São Félix do Araguia. He has been a clear response in Flanders. In 2005 the two essays tireless advocate for the poor of Brazil since arriving came out as one book, first in German, in 2006 in 1968. While there are many theologians of liberation, English. There-upon Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Casaldáliga is also a poet of liberation. His poems can translations followed. Recently he publish another be found on servicioskoinonia.org/CASALDALIGA. His book with the provocative title “Even without a God- English-language books include Political Holiness and in-the-highest.” In Pursuit of the Kingdom, both published by Orbis. José Antonio MARINA. Thinker ans writer awar- Franz DAMEN. 1944. Doctor in Theology and MA ded with many Prizes, specialized, among others in Indology, un Lovain. Also Philosofy and cultural matters, in the field of religious critic. He’s writen anthropology. He served in Bolivia from 1981 to Dictamen sobre Dios, and Por qué soy cristiano. 1994. Currently, Secretary of Stauros International Andrés PÉREZ-BALTODANO is a profesor in the Association. Since 1998: Provincial Passionist Superior department of political science at the University of of Belgium. Since 2008: coordinator of Northern Euro- Western Ontario in Canada and an associate resear- pean Pasionist Sector. cher for the Institute of the History of Nicaragua and Marta GRANÉS holds degrees in East Asian Studies Central America (IHNCA) at the University of Central and the humanities and is a founding member of CETR America (UCA) in Managua. He has published exten- (Center for the Study of Traditions of Wisdom, www. sively in academic journals in Canada, the United cetr.net) of Barcelona, where she is also the director States, Europe, and Latin America. He is the Author of of studies and activities and teaches courses on Budd- Entre el Estado Conquistador y el Estado Nación (IHN- hism. She has participated and coordinated the online CA: 2003 y 2008). work of CETR at: www.cetr.net/modules.php?name=Ne Paul POUPARD. 1930, Angers, France. Cardenal ws&file=article&sid=775 of the Catholic Church, he is the former rector of the Eduardo HOORNAERT, 1930, Brussels, Belgium. Catholic Institute of Parish, Archbishop of Paris, and Trained in classical languages and ancient history, he Emeritus President of several pontifical advisory bo- spent two years in Africa as a professor. Since 1958, dies, including that of Culture, created by John Paul he has lived in Brazil. He has been a professor of the II in 1982. 244 Pedro A. RIBEIRO D OLIVEIRA, a sociologist, li- the parish of Saint Joan in Vilartagues, a new part of ves in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is curren- the city of Sant Feliu de Guíxols. tly a professor in the Sciences of Religion Masters Pro- Andrés TORRES QUEIRUGA. 1940, Riveira, La Co- gram at PUC-Minas, is a consultant of ISER-Assessoria, ruña, Galicia, Spain. He is a Galician theologian who and is a member of the leadership of the Movimiento resides in Santiago de Compostela. He is a specialist Nacional Fé e Política. in fields such as the philosophy of religion, revela- Félix SAUTIÉ MEDEROS, 1938, Havana. Degrees in tion, and inter-religious dialogue. Many of his works social sciences and biblical and theological studies. are written in Galician, his mother tongue. He is very He was the the director of Education for Peace, the well known and studied in Brazil and Latin America. Professor in the Superior Institute of Biblical and Curas en la Opción por los Pobres. Continuing Theological Studies (ISEBIT) of Havana. He is a mem- the work of the Movement of Priests for the Third ber of the Lay Association of Theologians of Spain. He World [MSTM] since 1986, the group unites every year has worked in political activites, social prevention, “through the footprints of the poor and the martyrs, and peace activities in Cuba. some of whom have been members of MSTM. We seek Pablo SUESS, Köln, Germany, 1938, in Brazil since to walk through history by signaling where Jesus of 1966. See: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Suess Nazareth passes by, and where the Kingdom that he John Shelby SPONG, Charlotte, North Carolina in planted can be recognized.” www.curasopp.com.ar 1931. Spong first book was in 1973, Honest Prayer. His books in the last 10 years are Living in Sin? A Dunamis Publishers Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality (1991). Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Me- aning of Scripture (1992). Born of a Woman: A Bishop Dunamis Publishers is a small independent Rethinks the Birth of Jesus (1994). Resurrection: Myth company in Montreal with a history of providing or Reality? (1996). Why Christianity Must Change or critical analysis to Canadians. Recent publications include: Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile (1999). In it Spong sets out his “12 theses” insisting that Christia- Latin American Agenda, 2011, $23 in USA; nity is doomed if we continue to insist on a superna- $17 in Canada. tural God. www.johnshelbyspong.com Elsa TAMEZ. 1951, Monterrey, México, studied in EATWOT, Toward a Planetary Theology: Along the Latin American Biblical Seminary and at the Na- the Many Paths of God, 2010, $20 in Canada; tional University of San Jose, Costa Rica. Masters in $24 in USA. literature and linguistics. Doctorate in theology from Lausanne, Switzerland. Her last project is an interli- Richard RENSHAW, The Day It Rained, a nove- neal New Testament in Greek and Spanish. lla (150 pages, September 2009), $20. Faustino TEIXEIRA. 1954, Juiz de Fora-MG, Bra- zil holds a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian (Also by the same author: Dealing with Di- in Rome. He has dedicated himself to the study of versity: Questions for Catholics, 158 pages, April, interreligious dialogue. He is a professor of theology 2009, sold out). in the Religious Sciences Department at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora and coordinates the post- Leonard DESROCHES, Allow the Water: Ander, graduate program in religious sciences. fears, power, work, sexuality, community and Pere TORRAS FERRER. 1940, Albons, Baix Empor- the spirituality and practice of nonviolence (508 dà. He holds a degree in theology from the Gregorian pages, 1996), $30 in Rome. He was a professor of morals and philosophy for some years at the seminary in Girona. Since 1977 See www.dunamispublishers.blogspot.com he has worked to create a parish that is more like a Contact: [email protected] Christian community than center of religious services, 245 A @ ☎☎ @ ☎☎ B C @ ☎☎ @ ☎ D E @ ☎☎ @ ☎☎ F G @ ☎☎ @ ☎ H I @ ☎☎ @ ☎☎ J KL @ ☎☎ @ ☎ M N @ ☎☎ @ ☎☎ O P @ ☎☎ @ ☎ QR S @ ☎☎ @ ☎☎ T U @ ☎☎ @ ☎ VW XY @ ☎☎ @ ☎☎ Z World Latin American Agenda 2011